Darwin tulips, do they come back & multiply ?

I love tulips, but don't want to have to plant every year. Does anyone here have experience with the Darwins that are supposed to come back ? If so, what is your opinion......... are they as nice as the regular tulips ? Or are they just an acceptable compromise ?
I'd really like to know, as I was thinking of ordering some this fall, but if they're just a marginal compromise, I'd rather not order very many. Thanks.

PeggieK

Darwins are excellent tulips and are unparalleled repeat performers, especially if planted deeply, say 8 inches or so.

Oh my goodness ! Those are absolutely beautiful !

Do you mind me asking where you were able to get those, and what they are named ? I love those ! Do they multiply each year ?

PeggieK

Those pictured are Banja Luka; these particular ones were from Brent andf Beckys. Unfortunately they don't multiply but they will return next year and possibly the next.
Pic is small bed of Darwins.

During the gardening season, I work as a landscaper, and there are indeed some varieties of tulips that come back more reliably year after year. Keep these on your list:

1. Species or "wild" tulips. These little guys are pretty reliable; plus, they seem to naturalize a bit. Try Tulipa batalinii, T. bakeri and T. tarda (I've had a clump that's been growing strong for 10 years).
2. Fosteriana tulips (Emperors): Orange Emperor, Red Emperor, Purissima, etc.
3. Darwins (sometimes called "perennial tulips"): Pink Impression, Red Impression, Salmon Impression, Red Parade, Yellow Parade and Apeldoorn Elite.

davidvt, I hope Design Impression is on that list as I planted about 50 last fall and they were beautiful this spring. I have been trying to find reliable perennializers as I get older because all that fall bulb planting is not as much fun as it used to be.

I recommend the Kaufmanns for long lasting tulips. They not only come back year after year but they also multiply. They have full size flowers but are shorter than other types. Unfortunately they don't have the color range of other tulips (no true pinks or purples) but still they are very pretty. I have reds, creams and some that are kind of peach colored. Some have been blooming and mutiplying in my garden for 25 years or more. I have given many to friends and family.

Oh, forgot to mention that the Kaufmanns are the first tulips to bloom in the spring.

We've had a wide variety of tulips come back for ten years now, including some that supposedly don't perennialize so well (e.g. parrot). They were planted a full foot deep in sandy soil, and they don't get watered in summer. I believe that's what's doing it.
YMMV of course. :)

Yeah, I guess not watering them is the trick. My sister has a foot wide strip of crummy soil between the driveway and the foundation of her house that is dry and never gets watered. The same tulips (which she did not plant) have been coming up there for the twenty years she has lived there and who knows how long before that. You will see this in a lot of old houses around here. Of course that doesn't work when we want to plant tulips among plants that do require watering. Wish it weren't so. But I guess that would make tulips ideal for dry sunny gardens.

I have a place like that ! Yippee ! And I thought that was a hopeless spot. Maybe not so after all. It's around on the side of the house that is a real hassle to drag the water hose to. Therefore it hardly ever gets water to that flower bed. I've tried several types plants there, but they always struggle from dehydration. I finally resigned myself to just settle for sedums there. Good place for tulips !

Thanks you all, for the great info and an inspiration !

PeggieK

I'd like to add 'Red Appledoorn' to DavidVt's list -- it actually increases. I've had some since 1979 when I got a dozen free with my Breck's order.

Too bad it clashes horribly with the big pink northern saucer magnolias, tho, because they bloom at the exact same time. Same with a lot of crabapples.

I'd also like to say that dryness over summer is a must. Probably heat, too, since they are natives of Turkey. Make sure your hose, sprinkler or sprinkler system, and gutter overflow never hits the place(s) where you plant them.

Suzy