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Unusual tulips

shrimalashrimala Posts: 3
in Plants

Hi,  I've planted a number of tulip bulbs this year and some quite unusual ones have come up.  Some, which are in a pot against a south facing wall, are over 85cms tall from the soil in the pot.(see photo)

In another pot I have one tulip with 8 petals, 8 stamen and a stigma with 4 lobes (see photo) plus another just opening which has 10 petals, I assume 10 stamens and an attempt at a 5 lobed stigma. 

I've not seen tulips either this tall or with so many petals before.  I'm wondering if they're quite rare.image

Many thanks for any feedback. image

Posts

  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 3,846

    Yes, those are tulips.image

    You are invited to a virtual visit of my garden (in English or in French).
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 16,674

    I think they are called waterlily tulips.

    I think the heat from the wall has probably drawn them up.

    Last edited: 18 April 2017 18:31:29

  • pansyfacepansyface Posts: 21,897

    QUITE A FEW TULIPS GROW TO 30" TALL. HERE IS ONE CALLED BLUSHING LADY WHICH IS SIMILAR TO YOURS.

    image

    LOTS AND LOTS OF TULIPS COME IN DOUBLE FORM WITH MANY PETALS.

    I DON'T THINK THAT YOURS ARE GOING TO TURN OUT TO BE RARE. JUST ENJOY. image

    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
    If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,156

    Rare tulips are rare. Not found in packets at the garden centre or the big bulb sellers. You have to go to specialist nurseries.Then you can have little gems.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • shrimalashrimala Posts: 3

    Thanks very much for all the replies.  The blushing lady tulips certainly look like mine.  They do look amazingly tall.  I'm fascinated by the idea that the heat from the wall would have drawn them up. Re the others - is it quite common, then, for tulips that usually have 6 petals (ie all the others of that kind that I have do) to mutate to 8 and 10 petals?  It's not something I've seen before.

  • pansyfacepansyface Posts: 21,897

    HERE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE FROM A SCHOOL BOTANY CLASS

    Looking closely at your tulip flowers and you may see something surprising. Curiously, tulips don't always look similar. While the normal tulip flower has 6 petals, and 6 stamens, sometimes there are 8!

    "One tulip attracted our attention. It was very strange...it had 8 petals and 8 stamens! Our students and teacher came and looked at our "miracle" tulip. Other tulips all had 6 petals, as normal," wrote students in Azerbaijan.

    How can this happen? Have you seen a tulip with 8 petals in your garden? It is a possibility. When growers propagate such large quantities of a bulb variety, it isn't uncommon for an odd tulip to show up now and then. These are called "sports," or "chimeras." Keep your eyes open and you may see one in your garden!

    image
    Inside of "sport" Mixed Emperor tulip flowerimageimageimageNormal Mixed Emperor
    tulip flower    "Sport" of the Mixed 
    Emperor tulip    Inside of a normal Red Emperor tulip flowerWhich of these 3 pictures show the "odd" 8-part tulip flowers? Count the parts! What do you notice about the stigma?

    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
    If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,128

    Have a look at peony flowered tulips.  They're double so loads of petals.

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • shrimalashrimala Posts: 3

    Thanks pansyface.  They speak of 8 petals but not 10.  I imagine that is rarer.   

    Thanks for the reply Obelixx, yes some tulips have lots of beautiful petals, it's just that these particular ones were 'supposed' to have 6! :) 

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