Lady tulip
Tulipa clusiana · Liliaceae
A slender, elegant wild tulip: narrow buds striped red and white, or red and yellow, open into stars in the sun. It returns and multiplies every year.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 4 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid April to early May
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Bulb layer
A bed built around lady tulip
The planner designed this bed around lady tulip when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why lady tulip stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Winter heath × 11, pink
- 2 Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' × 7, blue
- 3 Stiff goldenrod × 3, yellow
- 4 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 3, tan
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Spurge 'Ascot Rainbow' × 3, green
- 7 Lady tulip × 12, white
- 8 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
Why this plant
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- Near the front, and only just seen. At 12 in it is about the height of silver sage (12 in) in front of it.
- 12 plants in 2 handfuls. In the gaps between other plants, which fill the space when the bulb is not in growth.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From mid April to early May.
- In company. With winter heath in mid April: 2 kinds at once.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, winter heath and Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips'. Winter heath is the first into flower, in late January, and little bluestem 'The Blues' the last to finish, in early October. The plan meets all 17 of the design principles it was checked against, and is Excellent in two categories.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where lady tulip goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: bulb layer. Small bulbs planted in handfuls of five or seven in the gaps between other plants, for colour before the perennials wake up.
It is one of the few tulips that is truly perennial, even in the South, because it needs little winter cold. It wants to be baked dry in summer.
- Tulips that come back every year
- Rock and gravel gardens
- Warm climates where other tulips fail
What to plant with lady tulip
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Creeping thyme: takes over when it finishes, flowering from early June; low enough (3 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch': takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid May; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about lady tulip
Does lady tulip need sun or shade?
Lady tulip grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does lady tulip grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does lady tulip flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid April to early May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Early May to late May |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late April to mid May |
| Zone 5 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 7 | Early April to late April |
| Zone 8 | Late March to mid April |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should lady tulip be planted?
3 in (8 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 in (10 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many lady tulip plants do I need?
At 3 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 168 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 39 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 536 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as handfuls of five or seven, in the gaps between other plants.
In the bed above, the planner used 12 in two groups.
Is lady tulip poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to dogs, cats and horses. The bulbs are the most poisonous part and cause vomiting, drooling and diarrhoea in pets. Handling the bulbs can irritate skin.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like lady tulip?
These come closest to doing what lady tulip does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Checkered lily: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; purple or white, not red, wants moist soil.
- Grape hyacinth: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 6 in shorter, blue, not red.
- Spring starflower: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 6 in shorter, blue or white, not red.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat lady tulip?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What can I plant to hide lady tulip's leaves after it flowers?
A bulb's leaves have to be left to yellow for about six weeks after flowering, to feed next year's flowers. Plant it among perennials that come up late and spread wide, and they grow over the leaves as they fade:
- Lady's mantle: 18 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower late May to early July.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': 24 in tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid May to mid September.
- Garden chrysanthemum: 24 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower mid September to late October.
What does lady tulip look like in winter?
Lady tulip is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
More Tulipa
- Darwin hybrid tulip Tulipa (Darwin hybrids)
- Greigii tulip Tulipa greigii
- Tarda tulip Tulipa tarda
- Tulip Tulipa
- Tulip 'Angelique' Tulipa 'Angelique'
- Tulip 'Apeldoorn' Tulipa 'Apeldoorn'
- Tulip 'Ballerina' Tulipa 'Ballerina'
- Tulip 'Fusilier' Tulipa praestans 'Fusilier'
- Tulip 'Lilac Wonder' Tulipa saxatilis 'Lilac Wonder'
- Tulip 'Purissima' Tulipa 'Purissima'
- Tulip 'Queen of Night' Tulipa 'Queen of Night'
- Tulip 'Spring Green' Tulipa 'Spring Green'
- Turkestan tulip Tulipa turkestanica
- Waterlily tulip Tulipa kaufmanniana
In these guides
- Plants that grow near black walnut
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- Plants for a white garden
- Silver and grey-leaved plants
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 4 in (10 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 in (8 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid April to early May; open bowls; red, white, yellow
- Leaves
- Fine texture, summer-dormant; grey-green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Comes from
- Northern Iraq to the West Himalaya
- Stands up to
- Drought, black walnut
Checked against NC State Extension and ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.