Do tulips and daffodils bloom at the same time and how long?

I'd like to have tulips and daffodils in bloom at the same time but I'm a novice and am not real sure about the whole "bulb" thing.

I know that different types bloom at different times just like any other kind of plant but how difficult is it to find one that bloom at the same time, or is it difficult at all?

Also, how long do tulips usually bloom, as well as daffodils?

And just in case it makes a difference, I'm looking at darwin tulips.

This message was edited Aug 6, 2006 10:28 PM

Most Narcissi bloom before Tulips at least in my zone. Tulip violacea bloomed the same time as my Tete-a-tete this spring. I can't remember which other tulips bloomed the same time as Daffodils.
They might behave differently in your warmer climate.

Here's my experience with Tulips. I'm in a much colder zone than you are, so they may bloom earlier for you.

- Early Single Tulips: Bloom in April and May.
- Early Double Tulips: Bloom in April and May
- Triumph: flowers at the end of April.
- Darwin: Bloom in May.
- Hybrid Darwin Tulips: these flower earlier than the Darwin Tulip. Usually Late April, Early May
- Lily flowering Tulips: these Tulips flower in May.
- Fringed, Parrot or Dragon Tulips: these Tulips flower in May.
- Double Late or Paeony-Flowered: Late May blooms.
- Tulip Species: these Tulips bloom in March and April Examples of species tulips are the Kaufmanniana.

My Narcissi bloom with the earlier tulips usually. I've noticed that some bloom a little later and longer than others, but I've not kept very good tract of which ones. I hope to do a better job of that next year.

Sarah,

I have seen photos in Sunset magazine of gorgeous tulip displays with daffodils, so I know it is possible. I live in northern Ca (Zone 9b) and I have some tulips(Negrita and Francoise) and some naricssus (Geranium, Sir Winston Churchill) in bloom together in mid March. The trick of this is to pick the right varieties---late season daffodils with early blooming tulips which requires some research or talking with a local expert.

For research I suggest that you go to some of the bulb supplier's sites that list bloom times( www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com , or www.tulips.com ,etc) online and check out photos and descriptions of blooming time. Note: tulips.com is in Oregon so their bloom estimates would likely be relevant to you.

For narcissus, try to find ones that are listed as blooming in Late Spring --many of these are in the Jonquil class or the Tazetta class or some in the the Double Narcissi. class, but Brent and Becky have some Late bloomers in most every class, including one called 'After All' --white petals, yellow cup with red rim--that they claim blooms after almost all other daffodils so your chances of overlapping with tulips would be increased.

For tulips check out Fosteriana class which bloom quite early (note they have very large blooms on shorter stems in my garden), along with Single Early class and also some of the early bloomers in the Triumph class and the Darwins.--even within a class there may be early bloomers and late bloomers and not all suppliers will list this.

This is not an exact science so you will probably need to experiment.
If you can put up with another suggestion from an 'old gardener' -- try something in a small bed and keep good records of what you buy and when they bloom and what you like or dislike about your choices. That way if you are happy you can repeat/expand it and if you are not, you can try again next season.

Good gardening

chris said it well, try a range of early, mid and late tulips with your daffs and see what works. Gardening is more than a one-year experience!

Hi, Sarah--

I am interested in creating bulb combinations, too, and have been pouring over Brent & Becky's and VanEngelen's print catalogs looking for pictures and suggestions for the past few years. (they don't generally have these comments online.)

This year I noticed B & B showed a pic of Tulip 'Ollioules' and Narcissus 'Pink Charm' so I ordered a few of each to try together. They also show Narcissus 'Double Smiles' with Tulip 'Carmine Parrot'.

---although I know that some bulb marketers 'create' false blooming beds just for catalog marketing purposes so I generally stick with known suppliers or I call and ask if the pics have been 'doctored'. (I don't guess I always get a true answer, but at least I let them know I'm (semi-) aware!)

In our climate here in Cincinnati we rarely see tulips and daffs blooming together-- I think because of the vagueries of our climate (which you may not have to deal with where you are). So I have better luck with pairing daffs with hyacinths or using muscari if I plant tulips. (I plant tulips sparingly because the 'critters' love them so.)

---a couple of bulb bloom combination links/ideas that may be of interest, too.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_bulbs_seeds_planting/article/0,1785,HGTV_3555_3150727,00.html

http://www.johnscheepers.com/

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/search/search.php?section=type&criteria=c

and I think this is an interesting article from Vanbourgondien (check garden watchdog for supplier ratings) about combinations

http://www.dutchbulbs.com/bulblady/stretchingspring.html

There's some information here.

http://www.gardentimeonline.com

HI I'm zone 7b/8a in Texas.

Here's my experience. The first year the daffs come up first. After that, because I plant the tulips very shallowly [they are annuals here] the daff's foliage emerges in January but the flower in early to mid March depending upon variety.

I plant mid and late season tulips. This year was odd, they started blooming in early Feb-mid Feb. usually it's March.

So, if this year had been like most years with a cold January, I would have had them up together with various daffs coming up amidst the mid and late blooming tulips.

I don't do early tulips (although Pink Impressions bloom first for me and I'll plant a bunch of them) because January is usually cold with warm periods and same for Feb. We often get ice and those gorgeous flowers can take cold but ice is really hard to them...so I try to the mid and late bloomers.

I hope this helps rather than confuse.
cynthia