GEMS AMONG THE TULIPS 
I.-POPULAR VARIETIES FOR THE PRACTICAL GARDEN, 
AND WHY 
AGNES FALES HUNTINGTON 
Author of “Dallying With Daffodils” (Oct. 1922 G. M.) and other articles 
Intimate Discussion of Habits and Nuances of Colorings to Simplify Your Fall Planting Order 
■ ''OR many years now, I have loved the Late Tulips 
better than any other flowers, and 1 have tried out a 
great number in my garden, and gone often to see the 
fine collection of a neighbor specialist. So perhaps my 
experiences may be of some help to other gardeners. 
A few Early Tulips 1 want, but not many. They are not at 
all permanent, have only short stems, and are not very 
good for use in vases as cut flowers. Also, the colors (though 
some are very lovely) are not so varied as the colors of the 
Late Tulips. And beside all this, April is the Daffodil month 
and in a small garden you cannot have a great deal of every¬ 
thing. 
The little wild species Tulipa Kaufmanniana 1 like because it 
is so very early, and lengthens the Tulip season so delightfully. 
It has bloomed in my New Jersey garden as early as March 
23 rd, though the first week in April is its usual time. It is a 
tiny plant, only a few inches high, but the llower is large for the 
size of the plant, and it is a pretty creature, of a very pale 
yellow, with deeper yellow centre, and a purplish rose streak up 
the backs of the petals. The little wild T. Clusiana is a dear 
Tulip, but not especially vigorous. It is of a warm blush-white, 
with a purple-pink stain up the backs of the petals and a deep 
purple-carmine base. 
Among the true Dutch Early varieties, I am particularly fond 
of Max Havelaar, a delightful salmony-red, with fairly long 
stem. L’Unique (or Brunehilde), white with yellow flame, 
is lovely in the half-open stage, though very short of stem. 
Queen of the Netherlands, blush and white, is huge and 
beautiful. Pink Beauty is a vivid pink and white. The 
somewhat later Le Reve and White Swan are fine, too—the 
former is an old rose, the latter is just like a white Lily. And 
no flower is more beautiful than the double white Schoonoord, 
when well-grown—a good member of that good, ever popular 
Murillo family of which the type is blush pink. 
The Three Big Families 
M Y LATE Tulips generally begin to bloom in the last days 
of April, and continue nearly throughout May. Here we 
have a great variety of shapes, and almost every color known 
among flowers—the warm tones; and the cool—-soft, dazzling, 
rich, or somber. The three great classes are the Darwins, the 
Cottage Tulips, and the Breeders. And there are several other 
smaller divisions. You must be careful how you plant them; 
for the Darwins, in all the soft rich tones of pink, lavender, 
rose-red, and maroon, do not go well with the dazzling Cottage 
Tulips, that are so fine in brilliant yellow, red, and orange tones. 
I dearly love both groups and must have many representatives 
of each, but I plant them as far apart as I can, and give them 
different rooms when I pick them for vases. The Breeders go 
not too badly with the Darwins, and indeed are often confused 
with them in popular understanding. Many gardeners love 
their somber hues and their subtle shadings. They are very 
subtle, and almost impossible to describe. But whether out¬ 
doors or in vases, most of them, to me, look dull-hued, though 
there are a few I would never want to be without. They are 
interesting in that they are the direct product from the seed, 
a juvenile state and destined at some unknown time to “rec¬ 
tify" or “break” into ornate character. 
Darwins are my very favorites. I cannot imagine how any¬ 
thing could surpass the beauty of their colors. Arranged either 
in great masses of one color, or all the colors together, their 
effect is nothing short of thrilling. 
I always begin by praising Pride of Haarlem —the Tulip I 
love best, with all the beauties and none of the faults. It is a 
huge flower, sometimes with extra petals (which gives it a 
splendid full shape, without any loss of the Tulip character), 
and its stem is tall and strong. The color is a glorious deep 
rose-crimson, softened and enriched by a hint of blue. (Do 
not imagine for a minute that the blue tone makes it anywhere 
near a magenta, for this is far from the case.) The base is of a 
brilliant metallic blue. This variety is especially vigorous and 
permanent; 1 have even had some growing in the grass for years, 
and most Tulips will not bloom in grass. Ariadne is very simi¬ 
lar in color and sturdiness, but with a purple base. Its shade 
of red is a trifle more a scarlet, and the llower is longer and 
slenderer than the great open bowl of the other. King Harold 
is a fine red, of an entirely different shade, nothing of rose 
color, but rather more a deep mahogany. With Prince of 
the Netherlands, we get back to the rose-reds. This variety 
is distinctive by reason of its deep flush up the centre of the 
petals, with paler edge. William Pitt and Mattia and 
Farncombe Sanders all more or less resemble Pride of 
Haarlem, and 1 do not find them so good—but that is a per¬ 
sonal preference. 
Some Choice Pinks and Lavenders 
T H E loveliest pink Darwin is Clara Butt. There is none to 
equal it in the beauty of its warm salmon-pink hue. But 
it has many faults. It is not very big, its stem is short, its con¬ 
stitution is not vigorous and 1 find 1 must continually renew 
my stock, if 1 want to enjoy a bunch of these exquisite rosebud¬ 
like flowers. Last spring it seemed to me that Aphrodite 
came pretty near to being a good substitute for Clara Butt, if 
one be desired. Its shade of pink is not quite so delicious, but 
it is good, and the flower is bigger, on a taller stem, and ap¬ 
parently the plant is more vigorous. 
The most vigorous pink Darwin with me is Mme. Krelage. 
Year after year it will come up in the same place. And its 
rosy flushed petals, with edge of paler pink, are very lovely in 
the freshly opened flower, though the colors grow a little dingy 
with age. Princess Elizabeth (syn. Julie Vinot) and 
George Maw are good enough pink Darwins, but not very ex¬ 
citing. Carl Becker can be exquisitely beautiful from new 
bulbs, but it deteriorated fast in my garden. Flamingo is 
a long, graceful flower, but of a dull shade of pale pink. Mar¬ 
garet (syn. Gretchen) seems to me also to lack life in its 
coloring. Yolande (syn. Duchess of Westminster) died out 
very soon, and I cannot at all remember how it struck me, but 
I have ordered some more bulbs for the catalogue description is 
so alluring. 
Louise de la Valliere, one of the very best Darwins, 
stands midway between the rose-reds and the pinks. I should 
call it easily one of the choicest half-dozen. The marvelous 
color is a luminous deep pink. It is huge, finely shaped, tall, 
vigorous. Everyone notices and admires it. 
I have looked and looked for the perfect lavender Darwin, 
and at last I think I have found one—or, rather, two. Erguste 
is early and vigorous and fairly good, but a little tepid in color. 
So are Euterpe and Nora Ware. Dream is a good inexpen¬ 
sive variety. Rev. H. Ewbank is lovely, of a pale gray tone. 
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