You aren't the only one thinking of ordering tulips. I'm thinking of alliums and tulips to order. I find that parrots are great the first year of bloom but subsequently, I find that they don't perform as well. As for the rainbow mixes - these look fine. Although it doesn't state in the in ad, these look to be Darwins which I find perform well a couple of years after. Just so you are aware, most tulips will eventually start to diminish in performance which is why yearly replacements are adviseable. They will definitely return yearly just not as great. (The Dutch regularly replace their tulips on a yearly basis)

Here's a little trick, plant them by layering. I like to mix early, mid and late blooming tulips altogether in one hole. I do so by layering them and I also add some daffodils in the mix to deter rabbits. This way you will have a long bloom time period and it would resemble a living bouquet. Once all the tulips have gone dormant and you are left with ugly dying foliage, I would interplant pansies or other annuals to disguise the ugly foliage. Good luck.

Ianna

I am also thinking of my tulip order!!!
The ones you have picked look very pretty!
This will be my 1st try at them and I want to get Rembrandt and Blueberry Ripple!!!

Thanks Ianna
That's a good trick the layering. I'll have to give that a try.I also like the idea of mix early, Mid and late show.

I contacted botanus and The rainbow tulip mix is a mix of Darwin and Triumph tulips that are mid season bloomers.

Wildie those are nice tulips you picked.
Thanks
Mary-Jane

Get the Darwins, they act as perennials.

Thanks crazy gardener,
That's what I'll do I'll get the Darwins.
Thanks
Mary-Jane

I got tired of the ugly dying tulip foliage. They are also slug food. I converted to what the Botanus catalog calls mini botanical tulips. These bloom earlier than other tulips but their blooms last a long time: 4-5 weeks. They naturalize quickly and best of all, their foliage dies back to nothing.

I also have a real squirrel problem: I planted 20 Blueberry Ripple tulip bulbs three years ago, and this spring only one remained! I've learned to accompany each tulip bulb with one or two daffodil bulbs to deter those bushy-tailed bulb eaters.

Jannabeen, that's an interesting suggestion re the mini botanical tulips. I will give that a try myself.

Ianna