Are these the very best tulips?

[MrsBertBibby]

These tulips came with the house, 7 years on they are still flourishing, even spreading. They come up yellow, as in first pic, then get a red margin, which slowly spreads until the flowers are completely red.

Never seen them for sale, dies anyone recognise them?

Stunning! I'd love to know what these are. Some kind of hybrid?

They're lovely. It does seem to be a thing although I've never seen a tulip that does that. I did a quick Google and found these for sale on an American website. The yellow in the mix looks like your tulips. Lucky you, I love it when you move to a new house and get a nice surprise.

I'm just amazed they aren't more widely sold. Although I guess plant sellers prefer tulips that fizzle out after a couple of years and need replacing.

They are tough as old boots, I've just found one flowering away which got accidentally dug up and dumped in a load of soil I had moved up the garden.

I have one that was in my garden when I moved in, no idea what it's called. Although, I have another lily type tulip that starts off yellow and gradually flushes orange. Might be Moonblush.

I've been looking up tulips and thinking of what I'll buy next year and there do seem to be perrenial tulips available. I've got some white (annual) tulips at the moment with a pink rim (Blushing Girl). It would be good if they turned pink all over, but I don't think they will. I might get purple and white striped ones next year. Rem's Favourite or Flaming Flag.

No idea but they’re stunning. Interested to know the name, too.

Could be Antoinette

Colours aren't right fir Antoinette, it really goes from bright signs yolk yellow to bright rich red. But "chameleon tulip" is a better search term!

Egg yolk. Stoopid autocorrect

These came up this year, obviously I bought them and planted them but can’t for the life of me remember buying them ( or what they are called)

Those yellow tulips are lovely. I am beginning to think that tulips are a bit like olives and gin, you grow into liking them more as you get older!

@viques I think they are black parrot. They’re known for being quite perennial (for a tulip).

Sorry, I mean black hero

Could it be these maybe?

m.facebook.com/gardenbarnmt/photos/color-changing-tulips-ready-to-plant-now-they-start-yellow-turn-yellow-and-pink-/1357865887719058/

Thankyou, black parrot doesn’t ring a bell, but I am not good at remembering names. They are lovely, change colour in the light and have very very shiny petals. Hope they do come again.

It does seem to have been a brilliant year for tulips, mine are all on their last legs now, though the ones I saw at Eltham Palace last week were still magnificent, I grow nearly all mine in pots and I think the bulbs get too hot ( my theory) which doesn’t happen when they are in the ground. I have one pot of pheasants eye coming into bloom then that’s it for my spring bulbs for this year , apart from bluebells and alliums which don’t count!

@thetulipsarelookinglovely have googled black hero and I think you have nailed it! I have a vague memory of treating myself to some Sarah Raven tulips so will check my old emails.

@viques my tulips in pots have done much less well than those in the ground. Earlier tulips in pots have come out, but later have been very poor (queen of night - stunted in pots, fine in ground) or not at all (golden artist, ballerina). In contrast some of my ground tulips have been going almost three weeks and still look great.Will rethink my tulip strategy for next year based on this.

I've never done tulips before but have 3 pots with Queen of the Night and Blushing Girl which are both doing well. My Ice Cream has not thrived though - it looks very short and still hasn't opened properly which makes it look rather constipated.

On a separate note visited Hampton court palace yesterday to view their tulip display, was absolutely beautiful 😍

My blushing girl tulips have done very well in pots. They're a late variety so were still in bud when others were out but are great now. My pots have got good drainage which they need over Winter. Monty Don keeps them out of the rain in winter. Did anyone see the tulip garden on Gardeners World this week? Lovely views.

Same tulips on their way to red.

Could be Ballerina

My tulips in pots have been pillaged by squirrels this year

I've got some tall white tulips and another lot of pink which were bought in flower from the local nursery a few years ago, then I just left the pots in the flowerbed and only just got round to planting them last autumn. They seem to be the 'tough as old boots' types. I must remember to give all my bulbs a feed before the foliage dies, already a bit late for some of them. Pots are more variable - I've got two identical pots identically planted the tulips were fine in one but pretty much duds in the other. I think sometimes the problem is if they dry out at the wrong time but afaik I treated them the same.

Not massively helpful, but my mother has very similiar looking ones in her garden that have been there for at least five or six years. They didn't start off as yellow and red - originally, they were actually white and pink! Maybe yours were also a different colour to start with?

I had several yellow parrot tulips this year, even though I had only bought white, purple and pink and they were all freshly planted in pots last autumn. Google confirms that tulips can either fade or completely change colour with age or due to other factors. Not sure what was wrong with mine, but I bought them very cheaply from Lidl, so maybe not the freshest bulbs / best quality or just mislabeled.