The Gorgeous Newly Discovered Tulips— By Wilhelm Miller, 
New 
York 
A GROUP OF SURPASSING INTEREST TO COLLECTORS, BECAUSE THEIR HUGE FLOWERS MAY PUT NEW VIRILITY 
INTO THE HIGH-BRED GARDEN 
UST when the distinguished Kew 
botanist, Mr. J. G. Baker, had nicely 
rounded off his monograph of the genus 
Tulipa, his work was upset by the discovery 
of a whole nest of new species in Turkestan. 
The bulb-loving world was electrified in 1873 
by the news of a big red tulip called Greigi 
which has the unique distinction of having 
its leaves beautifully blotched with brown. 
In 1877 came the sensational Kaufmanniana, 
which is by far the largest of the early tulips, 
blooming a week befcre the common herd 
and having longer stems than the celebrated 
Duc van Thol. Many other promising 
new species followed, all from the same 
region, but by the end of the nineteenth 
century the general opinion seemed to be that 
the only new species of great popular interest 
were the two above named. 
But John Hoog’s expedition to Bokhara 
at the beginning of the new century brought 
back some big red fellows that have fired 
the blood of collectors and fanciers the world 
over. For this news comes at the same 
time with a lot of talk about the decaying 
stamina of the high-bred garden tulips. 
There are a good many complaints of failures 
with tulips, especially from beginners who 
have bought the cheapest bulbs, and it 
seems that the Dutchmen have been trying 
. to keep from us the fact of a new and some- 
what threatening disease. Consequently 
every amateur plant breeder who is “up to 
snuff” wants to get hold of these in the hope 
of putting new virility into the garden tulips. 
Moreover, all the owners of country 
estates who like to buy novelties before 
the people can afford them are equally eager 
to see these red tulips that spread out to 
“seven or eight inches when wide open, for 
there is great “fun” in growing bigger 
tulips than the other fellow and in satisfying 
yourself as to the real kind and quality of 
these various shades of red. 
TWO NEW EXTRA-EARLY TULIPS 
It gives me the greatest pleasure to 
announce that anybody can now afford 
Kaufmann’'s tulip, which blooms a fortnight ahead 
of other early tulips, or with the hyacinths 
e 
a dozen bulbs of Tulipa Kaufmanniana, for 
I am convinced that this species is far better 
than the Duc van Thols which have been 
for more than a century the only extra-early 
tulips, blooming in early April or with the 
hyacinths. The Ducs sacrifice everything 
save color to earliness. The flowers are 
smallish, rather commonplace as to form, 
and their stems are so short that they are 
worthless for cutting. Indeed, they have 
a squatty look that ill comports with the 
dignity of a tulip. 
Kaufmanniana has a stem long enough for 
cutting, a larger flower than that of the Ducs 
and an exquisite bud like that of a water 
lily or magnolia. Whether it is really 
earlier than the Ducs, as Krelage claims, 
is to be determined after hearing reports 
from amateurs in all parts of the United 
States. In my own garden I found it a 
week or two earlier than the common 
bedding tulips. 
As to color, I expect Kaufmanniana to 
produce during the next quarter-century 
all the important shades. Indeed, when it 
first came there were white, yellow, orange, 
purple and crimson, though not perfectly 
separated. Mixed varieties of it can now 
be had in this country for less than a dollar 
a dozen. The orange, however, costs thirty- 
one cents a bulb on the other side of the ocean 
and the scarlet $1.50, so we may have to 
wait ten years before the public can touch 
these without the aid of a long purse. The 
flowers ought to be at least two and a half 
inches long and if you buy big bulbs and give 
them a perfect bed you should have some 
three-inch flowers. 
The only rival of Kaufmanniana is the 
big scarlet or vermilion tulip known as 
T. prestans which, at fifty cents a bulb, is 
certainly cheaper than any red Kaufmanni- 
ana you can buy. Moreover, the flower is 
figured three and a quarter inches long in 
the Gardeners’ Chronicle. They claim that 
prestans is as early as Kaufmanniana, 
but even if it should be no earlier than the 
bedding tulips it should be worth having. 
Don’t confuse this with another prestans 
which is listed in most of the Dutch cata- 
logues. The latter is a small orange-red 
tulip that is supposed to bear three to five 
flowers on a stem. 
THE BEST NEW EARLY TULIP 
While Tulipa Greigi is the oldest of the 
“new” species of tulips it is also the best and 
cheapest for general cultivation. It is 
practically unique in having the foliage 
spotted and blotched with brown. 
confess that I feared this would make it 
rather gaudy, but everyone who saw it in 
my garden last spring considered it as far 
better than a mere curiosity. Even if the 
leaves were not prettily spotted, Greigi 
would be treasured for its distinct shade of 
181 
I must. 
TULIPS, AND CERTAINLY ARE WORTH GROWING FOR THEIR OWN SAKES 
red —an orange-scarlet that is at once 
soft and vivid. 
The petals of 7. Greigi are all rounded, 
while those of the two preceding species are 
sharp. 
LATE OR MAY-BLOOMING SPECIES 
All the following tulips are May bloomers 
so far as I know, and therefore the bulbs 
need not be lifted and stored every summer. 
It is to be hoped that they can be left in the 
ground indefinitely and that they will multi- 
ply gradually without special care, like other 
late tulips. All but the last are big red 
tulips, each of which has also some other 
point of special interest. 
ONE WITH ROUNDED PETALS 
Tulipa Eichlert has deep scarlet flowers 
three or four inches long, which resemble 
Greig’s tulip, a big red tulip that is also remarkable 
for its blotched leaves 
the garden tulips in having all the petals 
rounded. Its chief botanical difference is its 
pubescent flower stalk. Each petal has a 
big black blotch surrounded by a narrow 
yellow ring. I fear we must abandon hope 
of its putting new life into the garden 
tulipsiand after thirty years of cultivation 
it is still too costly for naturalizing. 
TWO WITH SHARP PETALS 
At the other extreme from the round- 
petalled tulips which make the showiest and 
most symmetrical flowers for garden culti- 
vation are the sharp-petaled tulips which 
show more or less daylight between the 
petals when the flower opens fully. The 
