La Symphony Tulips: A Festival Favourite

Occasionally, nature gives us a helping hand, producing plants that complement each other in ways far exceeding our own design capabilities. Our La Symphony collection is a perfect example.

The varieties are all sports of one tulip; they grow to the same height, have the same flowering time and their colours make for a perfect, subtle blend of orange, yellow and red, from deep shades to soft pastels.

It is a favourite with visitors at our Tulip Festivals, and equally good in containers and the border.

What is a sport?

Every so often a tulip bulb produces a flower of a different colour to the others. This is called a sport. If the bulb is kept and grown on for several years there is eventually enough stock to sell it as a new variety. Only the colour changes. It is still the same tulip underneath, the same height and it flowers at the same time as its parent.

That is why La Symphony tulips work so well together. Tulips from different families seldom flower at exactly the same time, one is fading while the next is just opening. These are all from one family, so they come out together.

In the border

Generally, I plant bulbs of individual varieties in clumps, drifts or even soldier lines, depending on the location. They are chosen to highlight different aspects of the garden. Rather than using a general mixture of many varieties, I select two or three that work with each other in terms of colour and flowering time.

With La Symphony the choosing has been done for you. I would plant it in a big drift in a sunny border, the more bulbs the better. At 50cm it is a good height for the middle of the border and looks well above forget-me-nots.

La Symphony tulips in pots

Because they are all the same height they suit a pot very well, nothing towers over the rest. I use a big pot with plenty of holes in the bottom and fresh compost, and put the bulbs in 15cm deep and nearly touching. Then I put it somewhere sunny and leave it be. They are also good for cutting and the bees like them.

At the Tulip Festivals

Our tulips are on show at the Tulip Festivals every spring and La Symphony always gets plenty of attention. Seen in a large planting it is hard to tell where one variety ends and the next begins.

Tulips go in from October until the end of November, so there is no need to rush.

If you have the room for a proper swathe, 48 bulbs work out £7.50 cheaper than buying four packs of 12.