If you are a tulip lover, this article will definitely interest you. Tulips originated from Turkey before they were imported into Holland and other parts of the world.

Their popularity in Europe back in the 17th century was overwhelming. Tulip bulbs were even more costly that a house.

Tulips are part of the lily family and only bloom for about 3 to 7 days during the spring. No wonder they are said to symbolize the arrival of spring.

Tulips come in several colours. They usually have between two to six broad, strappy leaves with a waxy coat.

The flowers are normally cup-shaped with three sepals and three petals. However, there are other tulips with the shape of a star.

The popularity of Dutch tulips has grown to the extent that they are among the most common flowers you will come across at any flower shops or grocery store.

Their colourful nature and cup-shaped blooms have made many people plant them either in their gardens or indoors year after year. If you want to know more about this extraordinary flower, read on.

Something special about tulips is that they will fill your garden with colour way before other types of flowers gain momentum. Although most tulip flowers have one flower per stem, there are a few which are multi-flowered.

There are thousands of different types of tulips based on different characteristics such as time of bloom, height and flower shape.

When it comes to growing tulips, there several important factors to consider. First of all, tulips do well when planted in clusters instead of lines.

Since they make great cut flowers, you can grow them in a fenced vegetable garden or even indoors. Also, a climate with warm-to- dry summers, cool-to-cold winters and moist favour them a lot.

When planting, look for a sunny location with well-drained soil and plant the bulbs 4 to 8 inches deep. In other words, the depth should be about three times the size of the bulb to be planted.

Ideally, they should be about 2 to 5 inches apart depending on their sizes. Make sure the pointy ends are facing up. If you want them to create a beautiful view, plant them in a group of at least 10 bulbs.

While tulips grow best as perennials, they are sometimes grown as annuals especially the hybrid varieties. If you are growing yours as annuals, after blooming is complete, discard the bulbs. In their place, plant summer flowers.

Actually, this is the ideal way to grow tulips in warmer climates. If growing your tulips as perennials ensure you remove the flower stalks after they flower.

However, don’t touch the foliage until it turns yellow to help in replenishing the bulb’s energy.

Immediately after you plant your tulips, water them generously. After that, only water them during dry seasons. For instance, if where you have planted your tulips gets some rain every one or two weeks, don’t water your tulips at all.

For arid areas, you can water once every two weeks. The key thing here is to approximate the regions in central Europe and Eastern Asia where tulips do well…
 
Continue reading the article and learn more about tulips on Life Is An Episode website.