How To Condition & Create With Tulips
Tulips are a real favourite of mine. We get to enjoy them for quite a long season, with the first stems grown under cover arriving in late winter. Then once the British outdoor crops get going, there are beautiful heritage varieties to tempt us.
Stem Details:
Tulips are long lasting and easy to care for. One of the main characteristics of Tulips is that they move and bend as they wish, often changing their stance over the course of the day. They key is to accept this trait, and not try to influence it. Just go with it, and let them bend. Some say poke a pin through the stem at the base of the bloom to correct this behaviour. Personally, I feel this aspect of their nature should be celebrated, for it is their instinct, and makes them all the more beautiful and interesting.
How To Condition:
I prefer to remove all leaves from my Tulips in order to fully maximise their slender stems. Removing the leaves off your Tulips means a little rough knuckle will remain. This detracts from the elegance of a bare stem. It is also where soil will congregate. To remove, use a semi-blunt paring knife, and quickly but gently scrape off this knuckle while rotating the stem. Clean away any stringy bits and soil with a piece of damp kitchen towel.
To condition, cut each stem at an oblique angle and allow to hydrate overnight. As already established, Tulips like to bend. Keep them wrapped in their paper whilst conditioning, then arrange and watch them dance!
How To Reflex Tulips:
Reflexing in this context means bending back the petals to create a larger flower. This is a great trick if your vessel is a bit too large for the number of stems available.
Hold the bloom at its base, and carefully but purposefully encourage each petal to bend back in the opposite position using your thumb and index finger. Move around the flower and reflex each petal in turn.
Some will hold their reflex better than others. Remember that Tulips do as they please! Parrot and Double varieties are not so keen on being reflexed, so experiment with single varieties while you build your confidence. Reflexing tends to shorten the lifespan of a bloom.
Design Suggestions:
As previously mentioned, the key to designing with Tulips is to manage your expectations! Tulips move as they wish, often changing position over the course of the day. They may start upright and then bend down, or be just a bit bendy and then lay flat against the vase. There is no point in fighting it. Because of this characteristic, they do lend themselves to a more loose flowing arrangement I feel. If combining Tulips with other flowers, see them as the gestural flourish, and use other blooms and foliage to create structure. I usually simply pile a mass into a favourite vintage jug, with a loosely scrunched ball of chicken wire inside for light support. Although, with enough stems, the chicken wire isn’t required.
