All Tulips Look Alike...or Do They?

Are you one of those people who have a preconceived idea that all tulips look alike? Do you have the usual stereotyped picture of a tulip in your mind? You know the ones. Like the tulip pictures kids draw in school where the tulips all have a rounded bottom and three or four spikes at the top as the flower.

Well, believe it or not, there are several different flower types that sit atop a tulip stem. There can be shiny petals forming a bell-shaped, bowl-shaped or starry flower on top of each leafless stalk of a tulip.

Those tulips you pictured in your mind can be readily seen in the Lily-Flowered Tulips. Most often these are single flowers with long pointed petals that reflex at their tips. You might also see some similarity in the stereotyped idea of tulips in those small cup shaped flowers of the Single Early Tulips or the Triumph Tulips which have single flowers that are conical at first and then rounded. The similarities might even be seen in the Single Late Tulips, Rembrandt, Darwinian or Cottage Tulips.

So then, let's ask again, do all tulips look alike? Well, actually, no. True, there are many that fit the stereotype however, there are also those tulips that actually do look different.

There are the Double Early or Double Late Tulips with their long-lasting cup-shaped blooms chock full of flowers. Often referred to as being peony-like, some of these tulips may suffer from being too heavy for their stems.

There are also the Botanical Tulips with a wide range of flower shapes. Varieties and hybrids in which all or some of the original tulip features are present and some of the flowers open into colorful star-like blooms, also.

Then there are the Fringed Tulips. Single flowers with petals which are finely fringed at the edges, these showy blooms make for a beautiful focal point in any garden area.

Let's remember the Parrots, too, with their deeply frilled and wavy petals. These very large single flowers are the most spectacular of all Tulips. Quite eye-catching in the garden, these flamboyant blooms give an almost exotic appearance.

Yes, it's true. there are a lot of tulips that do look alike; however, there are just as many tulips with a very distinct look all their own.