Name: Parrot Tulips
Type of Plant: Tulips with ruffled petals and often, multicolored flowers.
Why I Love This Plant: These tulips have large, colorful and interesting blooms. The first mention of these was in the 17th century. No one knows for sure why they became known as “parrot” tulips, but just one look tells us why we appreciate the flowers several centuries later.
These ruffled petal tulips evolved genetically because of an exposure to a mosaic virus. This was our gain, and there are now many colors available.
A Word to the Wise: Plant tulips about 3” deep – research from Cornell University shows that deeper is not better for tulips.
The yellow tulip is a parrot variety. You can see the difference in the petals with the pink and red varieties in the same container.
Parrot tulips come in several red or colors, so whether you love pink, yellow, purple-black, you’ll find one for your garden.
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