Gardening at home with Sarah | May Tulips
Sarah shares her favourite tulips for companion planting, growing in shade and pots.
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Tulip 'National Velvet'
Glossy like a racehorse on tall, elegant stems – a cracking tulip! More
| 15 bulbs 260964-15 | £9.50 |
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| 30 bulbs 260964-30 | £16.95 |
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More Details
Glossy like a racehorse on tall, elegant stems – a cracking tulip!
This can be gift wrapped in our exclusive hessian sack, with ribbon and a Sarah Raven gift card. You will be able to add this to your basket once you begin the checkout process. To add a gift message to your order, simply fill out the details at the delivery stage of the checkout.
Please note: only items which are showing ‘in stock’ can be gift wrapped.
| Genus | Tulipa |
| Group/Species |
Triumph Single-flowered cultivars, stem of medium height, flowering in mid-season. Good lasting properties. Conical flowers, up to 7.5cm wide. Click here for more information about tulip groups. |
| Variety | National Velvet |
| Type | Perennial (grown as an annual) |
| Common Name | Tulip |
| Border Position | Container Garden |
| Bulb Size |
12/+ For more info on bulb sizes, click here. |
| Soil Type | Broad Tolerance |
| Scent | Unscented |
| Site | Full Sun |
| Moisture | Well-drained |
| Height | 60cm (24in) |
| Spacing | Plant pointy end up 10-15cm (4-6in) deep, 8cm (3in) apart. Layer bulbs to a depth of 25-30cm (10-12in) if room is tight. Remember to add plenty of grit if your soil is heavy. For containers, space bulbs 1-2cm (½-1in) apart if planting in a single layer, give them more room, 2-3cm (1-1½in) if planting in a bulb lasagne. |
| Sowing, Seeds, Planting | Plant outdoors October - December. |
| Care Tips | Don’t plant tulips until mid-late October. Plant pointy end up 10-15cm deep, 8cm apart in borders (less in containers). You can use a mycorrhizal Bulb Starter. After flowering leave the foliage to die back naturally if you want to reuse the bulbs. |
| Flowering | April - May |
| Vase Life | Tulips make supreme cut flowers. Strip the bottom leaves, tie the stems in paper to hold the stems ram-rod straight and leave to drink for at least 3 hours – or overnight. This helps keep the stems straight, but tulips do continue to grow after picking so curves may appear. |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- Sow Under Cover/Plant Indoors
- Direct Sow/Plant Outdoors
- Flowers/Harvest
Advice & Videos
Gardening at home with Sarah | The best tulips at Perch Hill
In our latest video, Sarah shares her favourite tulips for picking, pots, borders and grass.
Gardening at home with Sarah | Tulips at Perch Hill
Watch as Sarah discusses her favourite varieties currently growing in the gardens at Perch Hill.
Protecting tulips from pests
Protect your tulips this spring from their main pests. This short guide shows you how to avoid tulip fire and squirrels.
Sarah's favourite tulip groups
Sarah talks about her favourite types of tulip groups.
Planting numbers for bulbs in borders
A handy guide for how many alliums, narcissi, tulips, snowdrops and other bulbs to plant in your plot.
How to plant and grow tulips
Find out the best way to plant your tulip bulbs for a great display next spring.
How to plant tulips using a traditional bulb planter
On a particularly blustery autumn day in October, Sarah shows you how to plant tulips with a bulb planter.
How to grow tulips in container pots
Sarah shows you a few different ideas and techniques for planting tulips in container pots, for beautiful spring displays in your garden.
Understanding the 15 different tulip groups
The full list of the different tulip groups, with a little specification, as well as an example. We hope from this you can learn a bit more to help...
A guide through the tulip trial beds at Perch Hill
Sarah guides you through the new tulip varieties she is trialling from her most recent trip to the Netherlands (Hortus Bulborum, Keukenhof). She...
Sarah's blog: The Tulip Garden
We had our first light frost this morning, which has made me start thinking about planting tulips...
Delivery
Bulb Delivery - When in stock, please allow up to 3 weeks for despatch.
Click here to find out more information about our delivery rates and times.
Tulip 'National Velvet' reviews
Average based on 3 reviews
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Reviewed 26th June 2019 by Edward
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Reviewed 26th June 2019 by Caroline Mid - Late flowering in my garden in two pots. Gorgeous sultry colour, but not as robust as I had hoped. Performance was ok, but some were attacked by tiny snails that devoured the flowers before they really got going. Will be vigilant next year! |
Most divine tulip
Reviewed 18th July 2017 by Debbie I planted this tulip in large patio containers last autumn. They gave the most rich, stunning display. They lasted for weeks too. They actually look like velvet. I planted them in cream wooden boxes and their colour was amazing against the cream. I will definitely be planting more this autumn. |
