What Laptops and Parrots Have in Common with Tulips

It’s tulip time! People have been admiring these richly colored harbingers of spring for centuries, and for good reason. The classic tulip is elegant and graceful, and innumerable stunning varieties have been bred over the years. For example, a “parrot” tulip has petals with distinctively frilly, lacy edges, somewhat reminiscent of the margins of bird wings. Tulips infected with Tulip Breaking Virus show multiple colors, often in bold streaks or dramatic flame-like patterns, with slightly different patterns on each side of each petal.

At Red Dog, we plant dozens of different varieties of tulips. Some varieties tend to bloom earlier or later than others, so having a range of varieties allows our tulip season to last many weeks. It’s also just fun to have such an abundance of textures, colors, sizes, and patterns.

Some of the varieties you might see in your share this week include these:

• “Laptop” is an elegant purple flower with a classic tulip shape.
• “Avant Garde” has double peony-like blooms in a cream color with a rosy fragrance – which is especially fun, since scented blooms are rare in tulips.
• “Orange Emperor” gives large blooms in all sorts of oranges, from peachy pastels to deep carrot.
• “Rodeo Drive” makes huge flowers with rich, blood-red petals and a spotlight of yellow at the inside base.
• “World’s Favorite” has tomato-red petals outlined in gold.

Some of my other favorite variety names in our fields this year include “Flaming Parrot,” “Queen of the Night,” “Orange Juice,” and “Foxy Foxtrot.” What would you name the tulips in your share this week?

~Rachel