Growing flowers from bulb is a wonderful journey to take as a gardener – from planting the bulbs, to watching them flourish year after year, the rewards involved are manifold. Flower bulbs UK need to be hardy and durable to survive in the varied UK weather conditions, but equally, you will want variety – there is no fun in growing a whole garden full of one particular flower type. The key is in finding a range of bulbs and flowers you can grow that will thrive in the UK climate, thanks to having a hardy enough temperament.
In the UK, it can be harder to find quality bulbs too, that will be ready to plant and will be high quality, ready to produce beautiful and hardy flowers and plants. There are many websites selling bulbs online which can make the process harder and muddy the water somewhat – how do you know if the website you are buying from will sell high quality bulbs? And how do you know if the bulbs will arrive well packed and undamaged? Finding a good gardening supplier is a great initial step to take and will make buying bulbs online much easier in the future.
If there is a particular type of flower that you know does well in your garden, then you might want to grow different varieties of it. This will allow you to have variety, thanks to the versatility of the flower species, and the different shapes and colours you can enjoy from the bulbs when they grow. Many flower species can fit the bill, including daffodils, lilies, roses and more. Tulips are also a beautiful and very popular option for this as they have so many different colours and varieties. Some of the most popular types of tulips include:
- Darwin hybrid tulips – a cross between May Flowering and Fosteriana Tulips, with beautiful results.
- Early double tulips – there are so many fascinating colours, and the flowers will produce neat and even growth for a very aesthetically pleasing flower.
- Early single tulip – these can be grown in exposed positions as well as indoors.
- Fosteriana tulip – these flowers have charm and beauty in abundance, flowering in March and April.
- Fringed tulip – a unique type of tulip with fringed flowers, rather than deeply cut flowers.
- Greigii tulips – these are distinctive, with mottled foliage and centres of contrasting colours that will open out in sunlight.
- Kaufmanniana tulips – waterlily tulips that flower in spring and, if left, will reproduce year after year.
- Lily flowered tulip – distinctive flowers that have pointed petals, rather than the usual, more rounded tulip flower.
- May flowering tulip – the quintessential tulip, available in a whole host of colours.
- Mid-season tulips – very good for growing in harsh weather.
- Multiflowered tulips – unusual flowers that look distinctly different, with several flowers per stem.
- Paeony flowered – with their close resemblance to peonies, these are often used as cut flowers.
- Parrot tulips – striking flowers that have crested petals, similar to fringed tulips.
- Species and viridiflora tulips – tulips that have a slight twist, with standard and yet distinctive appearances.