April has arrived and it is the peak of tulip season in the garden. Tracy Reid reveals where to find some of the best displays
From sophisticated whites, creams and pinks through to bright reds and oranges, tulips offer a colour combination for everyone’s taste.
There are thousands of different varieties – all originating from just 75 different tulips that grow in the wild, in a band stretching from southern Europe deep into central Asia.
Tulips are endlessly adaptable. They are perfect in pots, urns or any other type of planter, scattered naturally through a meadow or incorporated into a mixed border design. They’re also easy to grow – plant a bulb in November and it will flower the following April to May.
In Derbyshire, we have some wonderful gardens opening up in April to share their displays of tulips and other seasonal flowers – while raising funds for charities supported by the National Garden Scheme.
You can find a fantastic display of tulips at The Paddock, Whittington Moor on Sunday 13th April (11am to 5pm). Admission is just £4. Children visit free and dogs are welcome.
This hidden gem of a garden has a fabulous display every year and also features a large pond with stream and bridge. Home-made teas are served in the beautiful pergola area.
On Sunday 26th April you’ll find two gardens open in Barlborough, with a combined admission of £5. Children visit free and dogs are welcome too.
Lindway features a traditional garden including vegetable plot, while The Hollies makes the most of an unusual-shaped plot with cottage style planting, hosta alley and Moroccan corner. You’ll find a wide range of delicious home-made cakes and bakes here too, which can be enjoyed indoors or outside in the garden.
There is a special event at Bolsover Castle on Wednesday 22nd April. Join the head gardener and members of their team for an exclusive evening tour of the garden. Admission is £20 and includes refreshments. Tickets for this event will be available on the English Heritage website.
Details of all the gardens open this month can be found at www.ngs.org.uk/
Fern Bank in Wirksworth opens on Sunday 8th March (11am to 4pm). Set in a small former quarry, it features lots of spring flowering bulbs.
NGS Chief Executive Dr Richard Claxton says: “Getting out into a garden or green space in the winter is a fabulous way to boost depleted energy levels.
“Not only does being outside help reduce stress levels and blood pressure but it’s also when your vitamin D is at its lowest, making winter sunshine hugely beneficial. Whatever the weather, wrapping up warm and enjoying the first delicate signs of spring – and enjoying them with others – is a real tonic after the long dark days of winter.”
• To explore more gardens open for the Snowdrop Festival in Derbyshire and further afield head to the National Garden Scheme website at www.ngs.org.uk
Tulip factfile
- Tulips first appeared in Europe from Turkey at the end of the 16th century, taking the continent by storm
- They were particularly popular in Holland which, in the 1600s, was arguably Europe’s wealthiest nation. Holland has been associated with the tulip ever since
- The 1630s was a period of tulip mania, with single bulbs often changing hands for more than one year’s wages of a prosperous craftsman
- Their importance was captured in many great Dutch paintings of the time
- The value of tulips rose dizzily, then collapsed – yet their popularity has endured through the centuries