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DAFFODILS & TULIPS

Hi All

I am looking to plant some spring flowers onto a lawn and I am looking for some advice on a professional daffodil and tulip display (just like you would see around around big gardens to visit or Buckingham Palace). Daffodils around tulips or vice versa? If I plant now would they flower earlier than stated on package? And how best to plant large amounts onto a lawn. Many thanks.

Mz
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Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,165
    They won't flower earlier. Where you are in the country will largely dictate that. A milder winter too, will affect timing. 
    Tulips don't really come back year on year, except for the species ones and a few others. Again- if you live in an area that can give tulips the exact requirements they need, they might come back for a few years. Many commercial displays will treat them as annuals anyway - they'll be replaced every year to ensure a good display. 

    Checking heights and timings is key, but even then, it can vary as there are several factors which can change those.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Many thanks @Fairygirl


  • Tulips aren't usually grown in grass, except on or two of the naturalising species ones, but daffodils usually do well and can cope with the competition.
    I wouldn't mix them myself, as the daffodils generally flower that bit earlier and then you are left with all the foliage. Mine are planted in a meadow area and increase year on year. I leave them to die back so the foliage is hidden by the long grass, then remove it when it is dead and late flowering meadow perennials take over.
    Tulips are better suited to more formal arrangements than daffodils and it is fun to play with different combinations in pots or borders.
    You could try some of the small daffodils or narcissi, checking  heights and flowering times, and that might work, but the classic partner for tulips is forget-me-not. They look great together and are easy to do at home.
    Just foliage plants works well too, like lavender or the new leaves of some perennials. I have some red geums whose leaves make a lovely green edge to the bed where I grow my tulips. If you want additional colour or contrast you could use primroses or polyanthus too, or small bulbs like scilla and muscari.


  • Thank you @Buttercupdays for all that useful information.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,165
    Ah - I sort of assumed you meant a bed in a lawn @thistletown71 - not into the lawn directly. Sorry.

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • @Fairygirl yes I did mean directly into lawn, but a bedding into a lawn is another option thanks.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,165
    Tulips wouldn't work then - for the reasons given. You could always use them in pots, to slot into spaces, depending on how you want to do the display. For instance - smaller daffs at the front, taller ones behind, but with enough space for a line or circle of pots.

    It still comes down to timing, as the little ones are often much earlier, as @Buttercupdays says, so it's harder to have them all flowering at the same time  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Thank you @Fairygirl
  • This may appeal for augmenting the daffodil display, or creating a stand alone area with impact. I have yet to try these myself but Keith Wiley (Wildside) highlighted these amenones during a garden lecture.
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