wrong tulips coming up x_x

16 years ago

Well, the first few of my tulips bloomed yesterday and today. One of the sets that opened is a very plain white tulip... of which I did not plan any. x_X And it can't be a volunteer or leftover because that bed is new this year, it had only sedum and periwinkle before. So now I guess I have to figure out which of the approximately 20 types of tulips I planted got swapped for these boring things, and try to convince the company to send me replacements for next year. I really hope they weren't the Ice Cream ones, I was particularly looking forward to those and they were the most expensive per bulb. Bad me for not writing down what I planted where though. -_-

The ones I do have accounted for so far are Apricot Impression (noticeably the largest tulips of the whole batch and the first to open), Claudia (except for being too tall these forced the best, as well as being among the first to open outside, they seem very hard although not really useful for breeding because the ovary is sterile), Yellow Crown, Yellow Spider (possibly my favorite), and an orange single which is either Ballerina or Aperitif (the flowers seem extra-fragile, a little wind and rain and they barely look like tulips - going to remove and discard those).

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Comments (5)

buyorsell888
16 years ago
I have had multiple bulbs from multiple sources turn out to be different than I purchased. None mail order from reputable companies like Brent & Becky's but all purchased locally in packages. Costco, Wal*Mart, Lowe's and Home Depot. I no longer purchase bulbs in packages or plants that aren't blooming from such sources. Some people might not care what color or cultivar but I do. I guess it is what I get for trying to save a buck. :(
Charlotte Willner
16 years ago
Buyorsell, that happened to me this year as well, only out of the individual bulb bins! I think somebody at the nursery got mixed up while labeling - I've got Banja Luka coming up all over the place instead of Dordogne! (On the plus side: I'd never grown Banja Luka before and it turns out I love it - I'll be ordering from Brent & Becky's this year, though, all the same!)
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buyorsell888
16 years ago
I've got red and orange tulips and I don't plant red or orange flowers. Can't remember what they were supposed to be. I keep thinking they'll stop coming up eventually but they are years old....

I've got pale yellow Asiatic lilies that were supposed to be Regale Orientals....gave one batch away too.

It is frustrating.
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
16 years ago
Well, I've got a story like this too...

The "red and White" striped Rembrandt-type tulips my teenage daughter bought for me in Amsterdam just started blooming...and they are deep raspberry pink with a white blush! If she asks me (She's off at college) I don't know what to say.
katob Z6ish, NE Pa
16 years ago
"deep raspberry pink with a white blush"
-that actually sounds real nice, but I'm sure since they were something special out of Holland you would want them to be what they were supposed to be.

I planted '60 mxd pastel' from Sam's club the year before last.... it was a mix of strong bright yellow. Another bag of mxd darwins turned out to be a yellow/red, pale pink mx, the other bag with the same tag turned out purple and dark pink.... nice colors and I'm not really complaining, but two tulip varieties in a bag doesn't seem like a "rainbow of color" to me..... also (unlike the original poster), I didn't put down good money for a specific variety and end up with a dissapointing show.