It's The Battle Of The Orange Species Tulips

Tulipa whittallii.  Really graceful and orange. 

It was a bad year for my favorite double tulip 'Orange Princess.'  Her Highness did not appreciate 90-degree temperatures in April and refused to grow to her full height.  But a great year for the experimental species tulips.

Comments

[Jacqueline D'Elia]

I don't know why, but I can't resist orange flowers. I find myself buying anything orange at the nursery these days.

[tom]

This time of year it's a mini-Holland in the Pacific NW, with bulb fields north and south of Seattle drenched in ribbons of color (though tract homes seem to be the latest crop encroaching on their domain).Last weekend I picked up a long-stemmed bouquet of tulips at the farmers market (I can never cut mine.)There's nothing quite as dreamy as a vase of nodding tulips.

Here's how they look: http://tallcloverfarm.com/?p=262

[LINDA FROM EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Last spring I bought an orange shirt then orange tulip bulbs in the fall. What could be next? Painting the house? My orange tulips are in the middle of the street "traffic island" surrounded by the bright yellow traffic stripes. Perfect combo!

[Elizabeth]

Well, I win, if garishness is the main criteria. Otherwise, I love this one; it reminds me a bit of the humilis Persian Pearl, with the two-tone petals.

But I still win, because I seem to have been successful in talking you into species tulips!

[Michele Owens]

Elizabeth, this one is much bigger than t. humilis, which I actually planted in the distant past. Rough estimate, 14 inches tall.