It’s not by chance that so many wild tulips are red, or that for centuries red was the most popular color for garden tulips. As every artist knows, red and green are complementary colors so together they look especially vibrant and right. And through some quirk of genetics, red tulips are often more vigorous and enduring than their peers. You’ll get 1 bulb each of 5 brilliant, long-lasting, and very rarely offered Single Early tulips: 1 ‘Cramoisi Brillant’ (1785), 1 ‘Vermilion Brilliant’ (1845), 1 ‘Cardinal’s Hat’ (1860), 1 ‘Artus’ (a.k.a. ‘Garibaldi’, 1860), and 1 ‘Vuurvlaam’ (1897). For zones 5-7S/8WC, from the Hortus. This was a special, one-time-only sampler offered in 2010. Sorry!

From the 1600s through the 1800s, the short, colorful, early-blooming Duc van Tols were universally popular. Today, on the other hand, it’s a rare gardener who’s even heard of them let alone grown one. Here’s your chance to try 5 very rarely offered colors of these all-but-lost pixies: 1 ‘Duc Violet’ (1700); 1 ‘Duc Cochineal’ (crimson, 1700); 1 ‘Duc White’ (1805); 1 ‘Duc Yellow’ (1830); 1 ‘Duc Scarlet’ (1850). 6-8”, zones 5-7, from the Hortus. (For more, see our favorite ‘Rose’ and the original ‘Red and Yellow’.) This was a special, one-time-only sampler offered in 2010. Sorry!

If you’ve ever lusted after Sissinghurst’s iconic White Garden, here’s a tall, elegant, late-blooming tulip that can bring a touch of that magic place to your own back yard. It’s long lasting in bouquets (combine it with ‘Golden Harvest’ and forget-me-nots for a pastel dream) and it’s fragrant! Darwin/Single Late, 19-21”, zones 3-7S/8WC, from Holland. Although we expected to offer ‘Alabaster’ in fall 2012, there was a total crop failure. Sorry! For an alert the next time we offer it, sign up for our email newsletter.

Like a bubbling brook or a misty spring morning, ‘Alba Regalis’ is sublimely cool and refreshing. The first reference we can find to it is in the RHS Journal of 1838 where it’s described as having “flowers of good shape, white faintly edged with pale yellow,” and nearly a century later garden writers in the 1920s were still recommending it. Aka ‘Royal White’, Single Early, 12”, zones 4b-7bS/7bW. Last offered web-only in 2008. We may offer it again periodically, or we could special order it for you.

Strong growing and richly colored, this powerful tulip wowed us when it first bloomed here. And when we saw how its flowers lasted and lasted, we liked it even better. Each petal is a blaze of deep rose with lavender undertones shading to soft pink at the edges. The effect is dramatic and full of energy. Darwin/Single Late, 28”, zones 3-7S/8WC, from Holland. Last offered in 2005. We lost our grower and haven’t found another who offers authentic stock.

A piping of butter-cream frosting highlights the wavy leaf-edges of this striking late-Victorian tulip. Imagine a miniature hosta – with dark red flowers! We asked the Hortus for as many bulbs of this treasure as they could spare, and we got 25. DonGt delay! Single Early, 10-12”, zones 5-7bS/8WC, from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart to compare. We hope to offer this treasure again soon. For an alert, sign up for our email newsletter.

Through unusually old for an English florists’ tulip, ‘Bessie’ can still “break” so beautifully that it wins Premier Flame in shows of the Wakefield Society. It’s petitely flowered, with burgundy flames on white petals that reflex charmingly as they mature. Broken, 16”, zones 4b-7a, from the Hortus Bulborum. Last offered in 2007. We hope to offer it again soon. For an alert, sign up for our email newsletter.

The first time this sumptuous, pearly violet, Double Late tulip bloomed, George Washington was still a teenager. Looking a bit like a lavender peony, it’s been favored by connoisseurs ever since, including Anna Pavord who writes in The Tulip that it “holds the record in my own garden for longevity of bloom, standing in good fettle for nearly a month.” Last offered in 2007, 10-12”, zones 4b-7aS/7bWC, from the Hortus Bulborum. Last offered in 2011. We hope to offer it again soon. For an alert, sign up for our email newsletter.

Named for the blonde-haired valkyrie who perishes in flames at the end of Wagner’s Gotterdammerung, this striking tulip has snow-white petals marked with a broad blaze of sunny yellow — or is that fiery yellow? It first caught our eye many years ago at the Hortus Bulborum, and ever since then we’ve been waiting to offer it. VERY limited supply, Single Early, 10-12”, zones 4-7S/8WC, from the Hortus Bulborum. Last offered in 2011. We hope to offer it again soon. For an alert, sign up for our email newsletter.