Tulipa orphanidea 'Flava'

Tulipa orphanidea 'Flava' is a more colourful and easier to grow variety of the botanical Tulipa orphanidea, native to southeastern Europe. Slightly taller than its parent, this modest tulip bears a beautiful, drooping flower in spring with pointed petals coloured lemon yellow with a bronze to orange margin, and streaked with a green line on the outside where a light red blush is sometimes visible. It naturalizes easily in our gardens if it is provided with a sunny location and well-drained, neutral to limestone soil, even dry in summer. Conditions that it will find in a rockery or in a raised bed.

The Botanical Tulipa orphanidea 'Flava' is closely related toTulipa whittallii (sometimes considered a subspecies of T. orphanidea), with which it easily hybridizes in cultivation as well as in nature. This subspecies is native to the southeastern Balkans, Bulgaria, Greece, and western Turkey where it can be found up to 1700m (5577ft) altitude under pine trees but also in fields, along roadsides, and in rocky scree. It also resembles Tulipa sylvestris, common in the south of our country, but its flower is more colourful and it has brown anthers. All these plants belong to the family Amaryllidaceae.

This tulip will not exceed 20-25cm (8-10in) in height when flowering. The bulbs measure from 2 to 4.7cm (1 to 2in) in diameter. The foliage is grey-green, composed of 2 to 7 narrow, linear leaves, pointed at their tips. The 5-7cm (2-3in) diameter flowers appear from March to May, earlier or later depending on the climate. Solitary or grouped in 2 to 4, they are borne by slender but sturdy stems that bend gracefully in the wind. Oval and tapering, they open fully into a perfect, drooping calyx, revealing a greenish-brown heart. The inside of the cup shows a light yellow colour, marginated with orange, while the outside is streaked with a green median line. The flowers open in the sun and close when it hides. This tulip propagates by stolons and eventually forms beautiful colonies.

Botanical tulips do not 'degenerate' over time like large-flowered tulips. They naturalize and can remain in place for several years without special maintenance and thrive in borders and rockeries. To create colourful scenes, they can be combined with various small bulb plants: Crocus, Muscari, Cyclamen coum, Snowdrops, Scilla... These tulips are unrivaled in bringing the colours of spring to pots or sunny gardens.