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“Before they came the air was calm enough,
Coming and going, breath by breath, without any fuss.
Then the tulips filled it up like a loud noise.
Now the air snags and eddies round them the way a river
Snags and eddies round a sunken rust-red engine.
They concentrate my attention, that was happy
Playing and resting without committing itself.” – from “Tulips,” by Sylvia Plath
Perhaps only Sylvia Plath, with her tortured poet’s mind, could so eloquently describe the complicated sadness of her world using the fleeting beauty of the tulip.
The flowers command our attention too, boldly bursting forth to announce spring’s seemingly overdue arrival.
But the tulips are right on time, making their grand entrance more or less in unison, after a year of underground preparation.
The perennials now filling Chicago’s boulevard medians, brightening the edges of lawns and springing to life in garden patches work all year for the briefest of displays — a mere two to three weeks of flowering.
Could two weeks be right?
That’s accurate, according to a University of Illinois Extension horticulturist.
There are about 100 species of tulips and an estimated 4,000 colors, all keeping time and blooming in late April and May, some arriving early, some later. Reds, oranges, yellows and color upon color in between. Nearly every hue except, perhaps appropriately, pure blue.
TULIP LIFE CYCLE
Planting and cooling
September to January
The tulip bulbs are planted in late fall, around September, and in November roots start growing out of the base as the bulb establishes itself taking in nourishment from soil. During the winter the bulb goes into a dormancy period which is necessary for spring growth. Frost does not affect the bulb.
Growing
February and March
The bulb begins to change as leaves and flower gradually push upward out of the bulb and above ground.
Blooming
April and May
The tulip grows into a bud and blooms into a flower. Underground, only the brown outer skin of the bulb remains. The duration of the bloom depends on the weather. Cooler temperatures equal more moisture and a longer bloom period.
Regenerating and multiplying
June to August
The flower either falls off or is cut but the leaves remain on the plant gathering nutrients. The new daughter bulbs use this as they multiply out of the old mother bulb. Eventually the new bulbs form roots, develop blooms and leaves within the mother bulb for next year’s plant.
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TULIP FACTS
Genus: Tulipa.
Number of species: About 100.
Number of horticultural varieties developed: About 4,000.
Where they grow: Native to Europe (Austria and Italy) and Asia (Japan). Introduced to Europe in 1562 by a Viennese ambassador to Turkey after he saw them in Turkey.
Colors: Flowers occur in many colors, one exception being true blue.
Color streaks: The phenomenon is due to a harmless virus that causes the color to disappear in patterns, leaving the white or yellow underlying color to show through.
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- Genus
- Tulipa
- Number of species
- About 100
- Varieties developed
- About 4,000
- Where they grow
- Native to Europe (Austria and Italy) and Asia (Japan). Introduced to Europe in 1562 by a Viennese ambassador to Turkey after he saw them in Turkey.
- Colors
- Flowers occur in many colors, one exception being true blue.
- Color streaks
- The phenomenon is due to a harmless virus that causes the color to disappear in patterns, leaving the white or yellow underlying color to show through.
Sources: Tulips.com; University of Illinois Extension; Encyclopaedia Britannica
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