Ballade Tulips

Ballade tulips are among the most popular spring flowers of all time, and it's no wonder. They are easy to grow, they come in an incredible variety of colors, heights, and flower shapes, and some are even fragrant. There are now over 3,000 different registered varieties of cultivated ballade tulips. Every year billions of ballade tulips are cultivated. The majority are grown and exported from Holland. However, millions of tulips are also grown all over the world. Most ballade tulips are adaptable to many different kinds of climates. The only thing to be careful of is to plant them in fairly well-drained soil. If not, the bulbs may rot before they have a chance to establish a root system. Otherwise, just plant and enjoy.

Most ballade tulips bloom well for only one or two years. Therefore, you will probably want to dig up the bulbs and put in new ones after two years. However, some types of Tulips do well for several more years. Although ballade tulips are favorites in the spring garden, many gardeners become disappointed when they do not return reliably every year as do daffodils, crocuses and many of our other favorite spring bulbs. In general, the species or botanical tulips and their hybrids will return year after year and thus naturalize well. To get the best results from these ballade tulips , plant them in the mid-to late fall in a site that gets six to eight hours of sunlight during the spring blooming season. Be sure they are in well-draining soil. That will help avoid rots, fungi and diseases. Plant tulip bulbs deeply, in eight-inch holes, measuring from the base of the bulb. Mulch applied to the area after planting counts as soil depth.

Be sure the soil is moist after planting. Water bulbs after planting if the soil is dry--they need to develop a vigorous root system before the ground freezes. In the spring, deadhead tulips after the flowers are past their peak--simply cut the flower stems and put them in your compost heap. Then the plants can direct all of their energies into preparing for the next blooming season rather than into developing seeds. Be sure to allow the ballade tulips to ripen naturally--cutting green tulip foliage will drastically reduce the likelihood of the next year's bloom. Each spring when ballade tulips begins to appear, an application of organic fertilizer such as dried cow manure will encourage good growth. Or you could use a slow-release, all-purpose manufactured fertilizer such as 5-10-10, 8-8-8 or a formulation made especially for bulbs such as 9-6-6.