10 Top Perennial Tulips

 Most tulips have a reputation for fizzling out after a couple of years. But if you select the right varieties and give them proper care, you can ensure a brilliant display every spring. Some tulip varieties come back better than others. . To ensure success, we recommend the basics of good Tulip culture: deep planting, regular spring and fall feeding with a bulb fertilizer, deadheading after bloom, allowing the leaves to yellow before removing, and minimal watering in summer.  To discover which tulips are good bets for long life, read on.

 

     1.    Go for Gold

'Olympic Flame' tulip is a Darwin hybrid tulip, one of the most reliable groups of tulips for perennial performance in the landscape. Its dazzling golden petals erupt with streaks of red, similar to a flickering flame. It grows up to 2 feet tall and blooms in mid- to late spring.

 

 

 

 

 2.  Cute Candy Cane

 

'Peppermint Stick' is a variety of species tulip (Tulipa clusiana) that features alternating red and white petals, reminiscent of the stripes on a peppermint candy. This sweet little bulb grows only 10 inches tall and blooms in early to midspring.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

      3.     Enjoy Rich Color

'Negrita' is a Triumph tulip that blooms in shades of purple and blue. It's one of the most reliable varieties in this group of hybrid tulips. Its cheery flowers are borne on 18-inch-tall stems in midspring.








 

      4.     Perfect Perennial

Your search for a perfect perennial tulip may be over once you find Tulipa batalinii 'Red Hunter'. This 10-inch-tall species tulip explodes with brilliant red blooms nestled in blue-green leaves.

 

 




  

       5.     Go Green

Make your neighbors green with envy by growing the perennial Viridiflora tulip 'Spring Green'. A band of green runs through the center of each petal, transitioning to creamy white edges. This late-season bloomer grows about 16 inches tall.

 

 

 

 

    6.     Play It Again

'Honky Tonk' tulip will have you singing its praises if you grow it in your rock garden or flower border. Yellow petals blushed with peach overtones distinguish this species tulip that grows only 8 inches tall.

 





 

      7.     Frilly Find

'Flaming Parrot' tulip resembles a flamenco dancer with its ruffled petals of brilliant red and primrose yellow. Most parrot tulips fade quickly in the garden, but this one lasts for years if grown in a sunny site with good drainage.







 

 

      8.     Long-Lasting Lily

Late-season 'White Triumphator' is a graceful lily-flowered tulip that comes back year after year. It has large, long-lasting ivory white blooms with pointed petals that arch outward and stems that grow 2 feet tall.








 

      9.     Sing a Sweet Song

'Ballade' tulip finishes out the tulip season with its graceful two-toned petals of purple edged with lavender. When fully open, its yellow-centered blooms resemble those of a lily. It grows 16 inches tall.

 

 

 

 

 

     10.      Royal Showing

The 'Orange Emperor' tulip blooms in early spring with regal-size cup-shape orange flowers. Each petal has a flaming yellow base. The stocky plants grow just 14 inches tall.