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Liliaceae FAMILY

Tulipa gesneriana

Tulipa gesneriana

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

The bulb and the flowers have been known to cause dermatitis in sensitive people, though up to 5 bulbs a day can be eaten without ill-effect[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Easily grown in a sunny position in a well-drained sandy soil with added leafmould[2]. The bulbs are very hardy, surviving soil temperatures down to about -12°c[3]. This is a complicated species, or perhaps a group of very closely related species, some members of which are probably native to Europe[4]. It is a parent of the cultivated garden tulips[4]. The flowers are sweetly scented[5]. Bulbs can be harvested in June after they have died down and then stored in a cool dry place, being planted out again in October[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a shady part of the cold frame as soon as it is ripe in early summer[2], or in the early autumn[6]. A spring sowing of stored seed in the greenhouse also succeeds[PFAF]. Sow the seed thinly so that the seedlings can be grown on without disturbance for their first growing season - apply liquid feeds to the pot if necessary. Divide the bulbs once the plants have become dormant, putting 3 - 4 bulbs in each pot. Grow the on in the greenhouse for at least the next year, planting them out when dormant. Division of offsets in July. Larger bulbs can be planted out straight into their permanent positions, or can be stored in a cool place and then be planted out in late autumn. It is best to pot up smaller bulbs and grow them on in a cold frame for a year before planting them out when they are dormant in late summer to the middle of autumn. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tulipa+gesneriana>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. — Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. · Wolfe · 1984 · ISBN 0723408394 ↩︎Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
  2. [2]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. — Matthews. V. · Royal Horticultural Society · 1994 · ISBN 1352-4186 ↩︎A quarterly magazine, it has articles on Himalayacalamus hookerianus, hardy Euphorbias and an excellent article on Hippophae spp.
  4. [4]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
  5. [5]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  6. [6]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  7. [7]Alternative Foods. — Sholto-Douglas. J. ↩︎Not very comprehensive, it seems more or less like a copy of earlier writings with little added.
  8. [8]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]Eco-Friendly House Plants. — Wolverton. B. C. · Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London. · 1996 · ISBN 0-297-83484-3 ↩︎Excellent guide to pollution in the home and those plants that can help to remove the problem. Most of the plants are not hardy outdoors in the temperate zone, though a number of species can be grown outside.
  12. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎