Tulipa Red Riding Hood

Tulipa 'Red Riding Hood' is a small, early variety. This tulip produces red single flowers and pairs beautifully with the green of boxwoods or yews. You can add a few white flowers for a dazzling display. The flowers rise on stems 35cm (14in) tall. The deciduous foliage is green with purple-brown streaks. It blooms in March. Robust and faithful, it returns every year.

Tulipa 'Red Riding Hood' belongs to the Liliaceae family. Of horticultural origin, it is currently classified in division 1 of tulips, whose main characteristic is early flowering.

They are unmatched for bringing the colours of spring to pots or sunny gardens. This tulip beautifully decorates balconies and patios. When designing your flower beds, you must consider the height and flowering period of the tulips, as these parameters can vary significantly from one cultivar to another. It is wise to plant extra bulbs for bouquets, as they make superb cut flowers that last a long time in a vase.

Tulip species are found throughout most of the Old World, from Western Europe to China and Japan, including Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and Central Asia. Their distribution range also includes North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The centre of diversity for the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan.

There are various wild species, many of which are endangered. These include large adventive tulips from cultivated fields, the most well-known being the Agen tulip (Tulipa agenensis), as well as small tulips found in wooded areas or among rocks in the mountains. In cultivation, they are called "botanical tulips", and one of the most common is the wild tulip (T. sylvestris), which used to often grow sheltered by vines and whose subspecies, australis, is known as the southern tulip.