We just wrapped up one of the most trying summers I can remember, weatherwise. More than two months of 90-degree + days and smoke started in July. OK, enough of that already. I am in the mood to garden again.

Some of my favorite tulips are the small, mostly perennial “species” types. They are the ancestors of today’s tall, big, flashy tulips and many of them originated in Central Asia. Every year I tuck a few more in the garden, and I am not disappointed the following spring. The patches of species tulips are growing slowly and have come back for at least 10 years.  

Like all tulips, they are adored by munching rodents, so plant them with some chicken grit around them and three times as deep as the bulb is tall. Most of mine are planted in the fenced area. 

Below are pictures from last spring in my garden in Boise. From left to right, Peppermint Stick, Little Beauty, and the wildly wild acuminata.

For more information on growing species tulips, see Fine Gardening, issue no. 204.