Growing Guide
 
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Tulip, Greigii cultivars

Spring-Flowering Bulb

Tulipa sp. Greigii cultivars
Liliaceae Family

Greigii Tulips are small (just 6 to 12 inches tall) but striking, with cup-shaped blooms. They may be a single color, or vividly marked with stripes, flames, feathers, or colored margins. The foliage is also showy, with purple or maroon striping and markings. They are at home in the border or rock garden.

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Site Characteristics
Sunlight:
  • full sun

Soil conditions:

  • requires well-drained soil

Hardiness zones:

  • 4 to 7

Special locations:

  • rock gardens
  • indoors as a houseplant - Can be forced inside for winter bloom.
Plant Traits

Lifecycle: perennial

Ease-of-care: easy

Height: 0.5 to 1 feet

Spread: 0.25 to 0.75 feet

Bloom time:

  • early spring
  • mid-spring

Flower color:

  • red
  • orange
  • yellow
  • green
  • indigo
  • violet
  • white
  • pink

Foliage color:

  • light green
  • medium green
  • variegated

Leaves are usually striped and marked with maroon or purple.

Foliage texture: medium

Shape: upright

Leaves are semi-upright, but droop to form a rosette.

Shape in flower: flower stalks with flowers as cups

Blooms borne on upright flower stems.

Special Considerations
Special characteristics:
  • non-aggressive
  • non-invasive
  • not native to North America - Product of horticultural selection, mostly hybrids of Tulipa greigii, a native of Tajikistan.
  • fragrant - Some cultivars are fragrant.
Special uses:
Growing Information
How to plant:

Propagate by division or separation - Plant the bulbs 5" beneath the soil surface in the fall. After the leaves have died back following flowering, dig up the bulbs and allow them to mature in a warm, dry location. In the fall, replant large bulbs, and place the smaller bulbs in a starting bed to mature. When enlarged, plant them in the garden.

Maintenance and care:
Remove faded flowers, and do not remove the foliage until it has yellowed and begun to die back (up to 6 weeks).

These tulips do not perform well in Zones 7 to 9. To grow in these Zones, purchase cold-treated bulbs and grow as annuals. A few cultivars are suited to perennial warmer growth.

More growing information: How to Grow Bulbs

Pests:
Slugs and snails
Aphids

Diseases:
Bulb rot
Root rot
Gray mold
Nematodes
Varieties
�Buttercup�: 8 to 10� tall plants with yellow-rimmed red blooms. The insides of the petals are gold with red-marked yellow bases.

�Cape Cod�: 8 to 10� tall plants with golden petals, each marked with a central red stripe inside and out. The foliage is tinted with maroon.

�Corsage�: 8 to 10� tall plants with yellow-rimmed rose-colored blooms with orange tinting near their bases. On the inside, the petals are reddish pink, with yellow feathering. The foliage has showy maroon markings.

�Dreamboat�: 6 to 8� tall plants with peach blooms tinted with rosy red. The bases are flushed with green. The foliage is marked with maroon.

�Easter Surprise�: 8� to 1� tall early-blooming plants with orange-red margined yellow blooms.

�Engadin�: 6 to 8� tall plants with bright orange-red blooms with yellow rims. The inner sides of the petals are golden with red stripes. The foliage is marked with maroon.

�Oratorio�: 6 to 8� tall, early-blooming plants with black-based pink blooms. The insides of the petals are peach-pink, and the foliage has purple markings.

�Plaisir�: 6 to 8� tall plants with yellow-margined red blooms with yellow and black basal markings. The insides are red with yellow margins, and the foliage has maroon markings.

�Red Riding Hood�: 6 to 8� tall plants with red blooms with black basal markings inside. The foliage has purple markings.

�Sweet Lady�: 6 to 8� tall plants with yellow-green-based peachy-pink blooms. The foliage has maroon markings.

�Toronto�: 8 to 10� tall plants with rosy pink blooms flushed with red. The inner sides of the petals are reddish pink with yellow-green bases. The foliage has maroon markings.

�Zampa�: 8 to 10� tall plants with gold and green-based yellow blooms. The foliage is marked with maroon.