Mother’s Day at RHS Gardens

Celebrating one of the most beloved spring flowers, the tulip extravaganza sees a rainbow of hues displayed in beds, borders and containers at each of the five RHS Gardens. In total, we’ve planted more than 300,000 tulip

These are fleshy, rounded, underground storage organs, usually sold and planted while dormant. Examples include daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilies, onions and garlic. The term is often used to cover other underground storage organs, including corms, tubers and rhizomes.

RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey

Spectacular displays of thousands of tulips at RHS Garden Wisley

More than a quarter of a million tulips are waiting to wow you at RHS Garden Wisley this spring in a breathtaking new tulip extravaganza. Inspired by the famed tulip displays of the Netherlands, the eye-catching schemes feature 18 different cultivars planted in their masses to magnificent effect.

Sweeping stripes of red, yellow and orange tulips greet you inside the garden entrance. Then head towards the Glasshouse to catch the main attraction – the spectacular sight of thousands of tulips encircling the Glasshouse Landscape and lake. You can walk among tulip-filled lawns and be immersed in the colourful spectrum of blooms.

Darwin

A plant produced by crossing two distinct parents, often different species, to produce offspring that combine the characteristics of both. Hybrids can occur naturally, but crosses are often made deliberately by plant breeders to produce plants with better yield, improved flowering or vigour, or improved disease resistance.

RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Essex

Jewel-like tulips brighten the Cottage Garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall

Spring is in full bloom at RHS Hyde Hall, set in 365 acres of rolling Essex countryside.
Tulips in striking combinations bring dazzling colour to RHS Garden Hyde Hall from April into May. There is a fabulous range to see, and among the 50 cultivars chosen for this year’s display, you’re sure to find a favourite!

The spectacle starts at the entrance borders, where bright purple Tulipa ‘Negrita’ forms a perfect partner to the subtle hues of pale yellow ‘World Friendship’, ‘Apricot Beauty’ and pale pink ‘Synaeda Amor’.

In the Cottage Garden, orange, dark purple and red tulips are repeated through the beds and in large terracotta containers for extra wow factor. Discover the gorgeous combination of dramatic Tulipa ‘Kingsblood’ alongside the moody hues of ‘Queen of Night’ and tangerine ‘Dordogne’.

There are more tulips to delight in the Hilltop Garden and Floral Fantasia, as well as Birch Grove, where uplifting yellow and lemon-scented Tulipa sylvestris floats among swathes of pheasant’s eye daffodil Narcissus poeticus.

RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford

Cheerful tulips and daffodils in the Wellbeing Garden at RHS Garden Bridgewater

Spring is in the air at RHS Bridgewater and with 154 acres of beautiful, historic landscape to explore, there is plenty to see.

A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that contains the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flowers.

RHS Garden Rosemoor, North Devon

Dazzling mass plantings of tulips in the entrance beds at RHS Garden Rosemoor

About 40,000 bulbs are planted each autumn at RHS Garden Rosemoor to ensure a spectacular spring display, with tulips just one of the many delights to see.

The first tulips to greet you are in the ramp beds near the garden entrance, where dazzling mass plantings of Tulipa ‘Bourbon Street’, ‘Golden Dynasty’, ‘Request’ and ‘Passionale’ mingle with polyanthus, wallflowers and crown imperials.

Around the formal garden, potted tulip displays add further hits of spring colour. In the Cottage Garden, old terracotta pots crammed with tulips adorn the traditional thatched shelter – a lovely place to sit back, relax and take in the garden. As one pot finishes flowering, it’s replaced with another, so there’s always something to admire.

Other tulip hotspots include the Hot Garden terrace, where containers are packed with red and orange tulips that echo the garden’s fiery colour palette. On the nearby Cool Garden terrace, giant pots of pure white tulips provide a calming contrast.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr, North Yorkshire

Nearly 60 different tulips have been planted at RHS Garden Harlow Carr

At RHS Garden Harlow Carr, a rainbow of 12,000 tulips will lead you from the Learning Centre to the Sun Border. The colourful mix of nearly 60 different cultivars ranges from the soft and subtle yellow of Tulipa ‘World Friendship’ to the vivid flame-like flowers of ‘Banja Luka’.

Tulips planted in containers add intense splashes of colour elsewhere in the garden, including around the garden entrance and Kitchen Garden. Lily-flowered Tulipa ‘Ballerina’ is a particular favourite: reliable, elegant and softly scented; its flaming orange flowers look wonderful combined with the dark purple blooms of Tulipa ‘Paul Scherer’ and rich yellows of ‘Strong Gold’.