Apeldoorn Tulip

Tulipa 'Apeldoorn'

flower

Apeldoorn is the definitive Darwin Hybrid tulip and one of the most widely planted tulips in the world. It opens enormous, classically egg-shaped blooms in brilliant glowing scarlet-red, sometimes with a black base and yellow ring inside, atop sturdy 20 to 24 in. stems that stand up to spring weather. Darwin Hybrids are the longest-lived, most perennial group of tulips, so unlike many fancy tulips that fade after one year, Apeldoorn often returns and even multiplies for several seasons. It blooms in mid-spring and is superb in mass plantings, borders, and as a long-lasting cut flower.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Pansy — Cool-season annual planted over the bulbs for color while tulips emerge, hiding bare soil
• Sweet Alyssum — Low carpet of bloom that fills around the tulip stems and softens the planting
• Daffodils — Bloom at a similar time and, unlike tulips, are avoided by deer and rodents, helping screen the planting

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Squirrels and chipmunks →

  Dig up and eat newly planted bulbs - lay wire mesh over the bed, plant deeper, or interplant with daffodils, which rodents avoid

• Deer →

  Browse buds and blooms - use repellents or site tulips near the house; deer find daffodils and alliums distasteful, so mix them in

• Aphids →

  Cluster on emerging shoots and buds - hose them off and encourage ladybugs

• Bulb rot →

  Caused by wet soil - plant in sharp drainage and never in beds that stay soggy in winter

🌸 Blooms & cutting

For cut flowers, harvest tulips in the cool morning when the buds are still closed but fully colored (the cracked-bud stage); they open in the vase and last longest cut early. Cut the stem at an angle, leaving as many leaves on the plant as you can if you want the bulb to return. Tulips keep growing in the vase and bend toward light, so turn arrangements; a clean vase and cold water extend their life. In the garden, deadhead faded flowers so the plant feeds the bulb rather than setting seed, but always leave the foliage until it yellows.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Tulips are grown purely for ornament and offer only modest wildlife value - the early blooms provide a little pollen and nectar to bees on warm spring days, but the showy hybrids are not significant pollinator plants. Their real value is as one of the signature flowers of spring, unmatched for mass color in beds and as a premier cut flower. Note that tulip bulbs are toxic if eaten by people or pets.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

Tulip bulbs are the most poisonous part - and the flowers, leaves, and roots contain it too - holding tulipalin and glycoproteins that cause stomach pain, drooling, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea if eaten, in people and in dogs, cats, and horses. Handling the bulbs can also cause an itchy allergic skin reaction known as 'tulip fingers.' Grown strictly as an ornamental; do not eat any part.