Tips for Growing Greig’s (Greigii) Tulips

Tulipa greigii

There are such a lot of tulips available on the market. Once I first began researching them years in the past for my very own backyard, I in the end threw up my fingers and simply picked those that had the prettiest photos on their packages.

However I’m a lot pickier now and I do know that if I wish to fill a selected area, I would like to seek out the proper species.

Once I want a tulip that’s low-growing and supplies long-lasting curiosity within the type of foliage and flowers, my go-to is Greig’s tulip, or Tulipa greigii.

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When you’ve got desires of a discipline of tulips, this one is an ideal possibility.

It naturalizes readily with out turning into invasive. And it’s good as a border plant, so as to add life to a rock backyard, and even for show in containers.

A part of what makes this selection improbable is that the vegetation can produce as much as three flowers per bulb, which means you get a dense cluster of blossoms with just some specimens.

When you reside in USDA Hardiness Zones 3b to 8a, you’ll be able to develop these brief queens – and this information will focus on cultivation particulars.

Right here’s what I’ll cowl:

The earlier we get began, the earlier we are able to begin having fun with our vegetation, so let’s dive proper in!

What Is Greig’s Tulip?

Greig’s tulips are vegetation of the Tulipa greigii species. The vegetation develop to a couple of foot tall when in bloom in early to mid-spring.

Every single, cup-shaped flower is held on a protracted stalk, they usually’re usually pink, salmon, yellow, orange, white, or a mixture. A single bulb can produce as much as three flower stalks.

The leaves have a beautiful variegated inexperienced and reddish-purple sample. These are rectangular or lanceolate, alternate, and clasping – which implies they encompass the stem.

And these patterns fluctuate wildly. That’s as a result of they’re attributable to a viral an infection. If you buy a plant with a sample that you just love, you’ll be able to’t rely on it being efficiently recreated 12 months after 12 months.

These tulips are smaller than the extra frequent hybrids that most individuals select for his or her gardens.

You would possibly image Holland while you think about these flowers operating wild, however this species is indigenous to Kyrgyzstan within the North and West Tien Shan mountains.

Sadly, they’re endangered of their native residence due to overgrazing and livestock site visitors, in addition to poaching.

Cultivation and Historical past

Greig’s tulip was first recognized in Turkestan and despatched to Russia, the place it was described by botanist and horticulturist Eduard August von Regel in 1877. 

The particular epithet is a reference to Samuel Greig, a pacesetter of the Russian navy and president of the Russian Horticultural Society within the 1700s.

This was the primary species of tulip to be launched into industrial cultivation.

Greig’s Tulip Propagation

Bulbs needs to be planted within the fall for early spring blossoms.

Earlier than planting, put together your soil. These vegetation do finest in loamy, unfastened soil, or barely sandy soil. 

They gained’t do properly in any respect in heavy clay, poorly draining soil. However if in case you have soil that’s too sandy or too dense with clay, both could be remedied by working in a lot of well-rotted compost.

Place the bulbs six inches aside and 4 inches deep. You may cluster them a bit nearer if you need, however additional spacing helps to focus on the leaves.

The vegetation can develop up a foot huge and crowding them collectively will press the leaves collectively, impeding airflow.

After you’ve had your vegetation within the floor for a couple of years, you’ll be able to divide them.

The best way to Develop Greig’s Tulips

Plant your bulbs in full solar. They flower finest once they have six hours or extra of daylight per day.

The leaves, that are admittedly beautiful in their very own proper, will nonetheless emerge in shadier conditions, however the flowers gained’t bloom.

These vegetation don’t do properly as soon as temperatures climb above 70°F, which is why they gained’t thrive in Zones 8b and above.

If you wish to develop tulips in hotter areas, resembling in Zones 8b and 9, search for bulbs which have been cold-treated and deal with them as annuals.

The soil must be well-draining and wealthy, ideally with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5.

And once more, this isn’t the plant for terribly sandy or heavy clay areas. When you’ve got your coronary heart set on rising Greigii tulips and you’ve got less-than-ideal soil, develop them in containers or raised beds as a substitute.

The soil needs to be allowed to dry out a bit between watering. When you stick your finger into the soil, it ought to really feel dry midway down the size of the bulb. If it’s any wetter, don’t complement with water.

There’s loads of info on the market about how and when to feed tulips.

Most consultants agree that it needs to be executed within the fall, and I discover my vegetation do higher once I feed them then. That method, the creating bulbs have all of the vitamins they want for blooming in spring.

When you’re rising them as annuals, don’t fear about fertilizing. Equally, don’t feed the bulbs within the first 12 months after planting.

Pruning and Upkeep

The flowers emerge in early to mid-spring and stick round for a couple of weeks. As soon as the flowers fade, go forward and take away the flower stalks.

Wait till the leaves are absolutely yellow or brown within the late spring for removing. Gently pull them away from the plant.

In the event that they resist, depart them a bit longer. The leaves present vitamins to maintain the bulb, so should you reduce them off or pull them prematurely, you deprive the bulbs of vitamins.

Greig’s Tulip Cultivars to Choose

There are lots of cultivars on the market, and new ones are hitting the market on a regular basis. I’ve but to run into one which didn’t develop properly for me, however listed below are a couple of standouts:

Cape Cod

Apricot petals edged in golden yellow pop up on 10-inch-tall stems in early spring, making for a fiery show.

Like all Greig’s tulips, ‘Cape Cod’ naturalizes readily with out turning into invasive, so let it take over a naked patch of the backyard.

Easter Shock

Come Easter time, you’ll take pleasure in these lemon yellow flowers tipped in an ombre of salmon pink and pink.

The vegetation keep underneath eight inches tall and sports activities maroon-tinted leaves.

Oratorio

‘Oratorio’ is on the petite aspect, rising to about six inches tall or so, so these bulbs are good as a low border.

They bloom a couple of weeks sooner than loads of cultivars, however earlier than the salmon pink blossoms pop up, you get to benefit from the purple-marked foliage.

‘Oratorio’

Discover packages of eight bulbs at Walmart.

Purple Using Hood

‘Purple Using Hood’ has placing scarlet blossoms with only a trace of peach on the skin base of the petals.

Inside, the petals are accented in black on the base. And the reddish-purple leaves act as the proper accent for the daring blossoms.

Zampa

The creamy yellow petals with a watercolor stripe of orange-red down the outer middle spotlight a border or stun as a mass planting.

‘Zampa’ stays underneath eight inches tall.

Managing Pests and Illness

I’ve repeatedly heard the declare that as a result of vegetation within the Tulipa genus comprise some poisonous compounds, herbivores gained’t eat them. Effectively, somebody wants to inform that to the deer and voles in my neck of the woods.

Whereas herbivores are my greatest problem, pests and illness can be an issue. Let’s speak about these hungry herbivores first.

Herbivores

Traditionally, people have eaten tulip bulbs throughout instances of famine. So it ought to come as no shock that herbivores will goal them.

Nonetheless, I’m all the time shocked by how a lot the squirrels, deer, and mice will go after the bulbs.

Deer

If persimmons are “deer sweet,” tulips are “deer veggies.” Ungulates will devour the leaves, flowers, and even the bulbs throughout instances of shortage.

I as soon as watched a herd of deer shifting by means of my winter backyard, and I marveled at their magnificence and swish motion within the snow-filled dormant backyard.

However once they began pawing on the floor and pulling up my tulip bulbs – they weren’t so cute then!

When you’ve got deer in your space, then you already know the most effective management is exclusion. Learn our information to discover ways to preserve deer out of your tulip beds.

Mice, Squirrels, and Voles

Rodents like mice, squirrels, and voles will devour the bulbs, whether or not they discover them in storage or dig them up from the bottom.

Voles will discover the bulbs whereas tunneling underground, squirrels will dig them up, and mice will reap the benefits of shallow bulbs.

Generally, I simply chalk it as much as the price of gardening once I lose a couple of bulbs. But when the rodents begin to destroy your backyard, the best choice is to maneuver your vegetation into containers.

When you can’t stand the considered potting up these flowers, you’ll be able to bury wire mesh underneath and across the mattress. Raised beds make the work simpler, however you are able to do this within the floor, too.

Then, bury the bulbs an inch or two deeper than you usually would. This may be sufficient to discourage tiny squirrel and mouse paws.

Some gardeners report that repellants work. They by no means have for me, however within the battle in opposition to the four-legged marauders, we shouldn’t depart any instruments on the shelf.

Bugs

There are two predominant pests that commonly go to Greig’s tulips. Aphids are much less frequent, whereas slugs and snails are frequent foes.

Aphids

When you’ve by no means handled aphids earlier than, it’s solely a matter of time. They’re extraordinarily frequent within the backyard, although I don’t discover them to be significantly frequent on tulips.

These bugs are small and oval formed, they usually use their sucking mouthparts to withdraw the sap from the leaves and stems of the plant. They usually wish to cluster in areas the place they will disguise, like the bottom of leaves or proper underneath the flower heads.

I normally discover I can management aphids by spraying them off with a gentle stream of water. Do that each few days. If that’s not sufficient, go to our information to be taught different methods of learn how to management aphids.

Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails will flip the leaves into lace. They will even kill a plant if it’s younger sufficient.

With massive, well-established bulbs, slugs and snails can eat the plant to the bottom and stop it from flowering that 12 months, although it is perhaps sturdy sufficient to return the next 12 months.

For management, I simply stick to unhazardous slug bait, like Sluggo, accessible from Arbico Organics.

Sluggo Snail Bait

It’s probably the most dependable possibility for holding mollusks away from high-value vegetation like tulips.

You may be taught extra about learn how to cope with slugs and snails in our information.

Illness

Greig’s tulips are significantly robust on the subject of illnesses – apart from the virus that offers them their distinct look. When a few of my showier hybrids are flailing, they’re nonetheless going sturdy.

These vegetation can contract a couple of fungal points, however this usually solely occurs when vegetation are burdened or rising in less-than-ideal circumstances.

The first ailment that you just would possibly see with tulips is Botrytis blight.

Botrytis Blight

Botrytis blight, additionally known as tulip hearth, is a typical illness within the backyard. Attributable to fungi within the Botrytis genus, B. tulipae is a tulip-specific fungus.

The fungus thrives in cool, moist circumstances. A pleasant, lengthy stretch of overcast skies with loads of rain and humidity over 80 % is simply the factor this pathogen wants.

However even that may not be sufficient for the illness to unfold all through your backyard. It’ll typically look ahead to a bit of harm to sneak in – hailstorm, pest injury, or mechanical injury leaves the plant uncovered.

Signs embody twisted, distorted leaves, shoots that don’t unfurl, small spots on leaves and petals, and in extreme circumstances, massive sunken scabby areas.

Because the illness worsens, you’ll see massive lesions on the leaves and grey mildew would possibly seem on the decrease a part of the plant and on the bulbs, inflicting them to rot – whether or not in storage or underground.

Avoiding this downside begins with shopping for from respected sellers who assure disease-free bulbs.

Be extraordinarily cautious when planting or when lifting the bulbs for storage to keep away from damaging them. When you come throughout a bulb that appears moldy, get rid of it within the rubbish, not the compost.

Keep away from overwatering and overcrowding your vegetation to enhance air circulation.

When you’re at it, you would possibly simply wish to pack up and transfer someplace dry and sunny throughout the spring as a result of – and I hate to be the one to inform you this – there is no such thing as a treatment for tulip hearth.

There’s no treatment and it tends to worsen 12 months after 12 months. However you’ll be able to restrict the unfold by eradicating symptomatic leaves and stems as quickly as they begin to fade.

You may soak the soil or spray the bulbs with a fungicide, each as a preventative and to gradual the unfold.

My go-to is Mycostop, which harnesses the ability of the helpful micro organism Streptomyces pressure K61.

Mycostop Biofungicide

Arbico Organics carries it in five- or 25-gram packets. Observe the instructions carefully for grey mildew.

Greatest Makes use of for Greig’s Tulips

A single plant is cute, however these tulips make the most important influence while you group them collectively. You can even pressure them to bloom indoors throughout the winter for some coloration.

Greigii tulips could be grown in containers, lawns, rock gardens, and reduce flower gardens, naturalized, grouped en masse, or grown as border vegetation.

The draw back of tulips is that they disappear in the summertime, leaving naked soil of their place.

Throughout the dormant months, don’t hesitate to plant one thing over the bulbs. Shallow-rooted annuals like cosmos, petunias, phlox, candy alyssum, and zinnias make nice picks.