Next year's tulips

[Zippyzoppy]

I thought people might like to know that last year a did a little experiment where I planted a mixture of Lidl/Wilko cheap tulip bulbs as well as some much more expensive ones from my local garden centre.

My experience was that you could not tell the difference between them, and therefore I will not be going to the expense of paying £7 or so for a packet of 10!!!

Anyone else agree, or have a different point of view?

Generally, yes, cheap bulbs are often just as good as long as you check for mould/dead sprouts. Shops don't always store them correctly. I have had a few surprises when the variety is not what it said on the packet! I only buy more expensive bulbs if I want an unusual variety or a larger bulb size for more flowers.

I've ordered a load from Sarah Raven that weren't cheap. And also bought a more common variety from the garden centre so will do a comparison myself and excited to see what grows.

Never done tulips before though, when is best to plant them?

September to November, @reservoircats, the same as all spring bulbs.

Thank you @orangenasturtium

This £3 mix and match bulb offer is still on until midnight if you want something a bit different:

www.thompson-morgan.com/newsletter-special-offers-sunday4?source=newsletter-ever-020820&utm_source=RedEye&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TM_TN1678W-bulbs-010820&utm_content=TM_TN1680W-bulbs-2-020820

The £3 pack sizes vary eg from 85 grape hyacinths, 50 iris reticulata, 16 tulip "fire wings", down to just one black hyacinth bulb! There are over 100 types to chose from though.

The only problem I’ve had with cheap bulbs is that they sometimes aren’t what you paid for. Mostly they do flower, although perhaps not as big as the expensive ones. It’s not worth spending on tulips - they don’t like the British climate and most varieties won’t flower a second year. Spend your money on daffodils instead - they come back every year and multiply.

Thompson & Morgan is a company I would NEVER buy from again I’m afraid. Every single bulb they sent me was the wrong sort. I ordered several fancy daffodils and they were all bog standard yellow ones. Lilies were the wrong colour and a cheap variety not the expensive ones I paid for. Not recommended ☹️

I had the same problem with them once @LegoMaus but they do offer a guarantee on their plants/bulbs. They offered me the choice of a refund, credit or replacement. I was quite happy as I'd ordered 10 white tree lilies for £10 in an end of season sale so it was the wrong time to plant them, got 10 yellow asiatic lilies instead then 10 replacement tree lilies at optimum planting time when the price was £13.99 for 3 bulbs. It is a bit annoying if it messes up your planting scheme though.

I bought my usual Sarah Raven tulips last year, and then saw reduced packs in Wilko and couldn't resist them (they were £1 for 10 bulbs or something like that). Sadly my Wilko tulips were very hit and miss, so I will be sticking with SR this year.

I posted a discount code a few days ago for Farmer Gracy bulbs. I've never used them before but they get good reviews and this year I'm trying some new tulips. The code is from Gardeners' World and gives free P&P if anyone is interested 😊🌷

BBCGWAUG20

Thank you catwithflowers .

Thanks catwithflowers. Will you let us know how your bulbs turn out? I was really excited when I stumbled on the Farmer Gracy site as it has so many unusual varieties for a good price and 95% of the reviews are excellent but then I noticed a lot of the recent reviews from the past year are only 1 star.

@orangenasturtium 🙈🙈. I only spent a tenner but am hoping the tulips will be lovely. I liked the unusual varieties too. I'll report back in Spring 2021!!!!

I find that tulips tend not to come back as reliably as daffs, crocuses, etc. so don't bother with them for the garden anymore.

I just treat tulips as annuals, I plant them in pots and redo them every year.