Common Name: lady tulip
Type: Bulb
Family: Liliaceae
Native Range: Southwestern Asia
Zone: 3 to 7
Height: 0.75 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 0.75 feet
Bloom Time: April
Bloom Description: White with a small purple-red blotch at base
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Annual, Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Good Cut
Tolerate: Black Walnut
Culture
Grow in organically rich, fertile, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to light shade. Best performance occurs in USDA Zones 3-7 in areas with cool, moist but not wet winters and warm dry summers. Plant bulbs 6-8” deep in fall (4-6” deep if grown in heavy clay soils or as annuals). Space bulbs 4-5” apart. Clusiana tulips are noted for being long-lived perennials which come back year after year. They are also noted for having good perennial performance in southern gardens because the bulbs have less need for cold winter conditions. They may of course be grown as annuals. When grown as perennials, spent flower stems should be promptly removed after bloom, but foliage should not be removed until it yellows. In optimum growing conditions, this tulip will naturalize in the garden by stolons and offsets to form colonies.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Tulipa clusiana, commonly known as lady tulip, is a species tulip (Division 15) that grows to 9-12” tall. It is native to Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and the western Himalayas. Each bulb produces 2-5 narrow, linear, gray-green leaves (to 10” long). Bowl-shaped flowers (to 4” wide) are white to cream, with the outer tepals being red edged white on the exterior. Flower interior is a solid white with a small purple-red blotch at the base. Flowers open in sun to form a star but remain closed on dark days. Flowers close up at night. It has naturalized throughout much of southern Europe. Flowers bloom in April. Flowers usually bloom singly.
Genus name comes the Latinized version of the Turkish name tulbend meaning a turban.
Specific epithet honors Carolus Clusius (1526-1609), Flemish medical doctor and botanist.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Bulb and root rots may occur, particularly in wet, poorly-drained soils. Gray mold. Mosaic virus may also occur. Animal pests include aphids, slugs and snails. Mice and voles are attracted to the bulbs.
Uses
Beds, borders and rock gardens. Best planted in large groups or massed. Containers.