“Dark polished mahogany,” is how Peter Henderson described this tall, late tulip in 1929, but it always reminds us of dark sweet cherries. Despite its dramatic looks, ‘Philippe’ had vanished from American gardens until we reintroduced it in 1998. The great ‘Black Parrot’ is its ruffled sport (mutation). Single Late/Darwin, 24”, zones 3-7S/8WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Shaded with a mist of tiny pink speckles that get deeper and more numerous every day, this extra-rare double tulip gradually transforms itself from near-white to rosy pink — almost as if it’s blushing in slow motion. A golden glow deep inside adds to its ethereal beauty. Double Early, 10-12”, zones 4-7S(8WC), from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart to compare.

This is the tulip that launched Old House Gardens way back in 1993. When the last US source dropped it, I knew I had to do something. It was just too wonderful to let go extinct. It’s one of history’s most fragrant tulips (violets? orange blossoms?), with a scent that will draw you across the garden on a sunny day. It’s also so vigorous that it’s been returning for well over a decade here with no special care. Scarlet maturing to almost-orange, Single Early, 12”, zones 3-7S/8WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

It’s back! Eighteen years ago this elegant beauty was featured in a Garden Design article about a tiny new source devoted to heirloom bulbs — and suddenly we weren’t so tiny anymore. Well-described in the 1931 Scheepers catalog as “rose-pink with topaz lights and hints of fuchsia shadowing,” it was lost to us in 2002 when the last Dutch farmer quit growing it. Finally this spring the Hortus Bulborum offered us a handful of bulbs, and we’re thrilled to share them with you! S. Late/Darwin, 18-22”, z. 4-7b(8aWC). Chart to compare.

Irene’s warm, strong fragrance and unusual coloring – melon-orange flamed with subtle bronze-purple – make it one of the most distinctive tulips of the 1900s. It’s a favorite at Holland’s glorious Keukenhof gardens and easy to force indoors where you can enjoy its heavenly scent up close. Triumph, 14”, zones 3-7S/8WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Tulips from the 1700s are exceedingly rare. To last that long, they have to be both wonderful and tough – like ‘Purple Crown’, a raggedy double tulip of dusky, purplish crimson that’s also called ‘The Moor’. We like to imagine a crystal vase of it sitting by Beethoven as he wrote one of his dark, somber movements. It was grown way back then, so that really could have happened! Last offered in 2005, Double Early, 10-12”, zones 4b-7aS/7bWC, from the Hortus. Chart to compare.

This extraordinary tulip is considered the oldest surviving English florists’ tulip, having “first bloomed about 1820” according to tulip-breeder John Slater in his 1843 Descriptive Catalogue of Tulips. With mahogany-red feathering on golden yellow, it’s the latest flowering Bizarre and, since it multiplies slowly, it’s very rarely offered today. Be prepared to give it extra-good care, and get it while you can! Aka ‘Charles X’, ‘Defiance’, ‘Duke of Lancaster’, ‘Le Conquerant’, ‘Page’s George IV’, ‘Platoff’, ‘Victory’, and ‘Waterloo’. 16-18”, zones 4b-7aS/7bWC, from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart to compare.

Perhaps the most famous of the English broken tulips, ‘Sam Barlow’ is richly flamed with deep red-brown on yellow. Bred by “railway man and florist, Tom Storer, who grew his tulips along the embankments of Derby’s railways” (Pavord), it’s named for the owner of Victorian England’s greatest tulip collection, a man who once offered to buy all of the bulbs of an especially fine broken tulip for their weight in gold – and ended up paying even more. Late-blooming, 18”, zones 4b-7a, from the Hortus. Chart to compare.

Imagine a perfect white peony or a double white waterlily unfolding in the morning sun. That’s ‘Schoonoord’ (say SKOH-nord), lush and radiant. In 1935 Louise Beebe Wilder praised it for perennial borders, saying its “prestige as the best... has never been questioned. It is an old variety but invaluable.” And that’s still true! Double Early, 12”, zones 3-7S/8WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

A lot has changed since 1760 (heck, the United States wasn’t even the United States back then), but ‘Silver Standard’ is still one of the world’s most exciting flowers. A true broken tulip, it’s a dazzling combination of purest white boldly splashed with red and guaranteed to leave you and your garden visitors standing open-mouthed in awe. Last offered in 2008, Single Early, 12-14”, zones 4b-7a, from the Hortus. Chart to compare.