Vibrant and eye-catching, with the ability to make a big statement in the garden, pink tulips are some of the most popular available. The selection is huge, spanning punchy hot pinks to calming, pale creamy choices; striped blooms and options with an egg-yolk-yellow centre.
We've asked professional gardeners, plantspeople, garden writers and designers to reveal their picks of the best pink tulip bulbs to grow and gathered them here. The list includes everything from lily-flowering tulips with dramatic pointed petals to sumptuous double flowering varieties, as well as fun ruffled flowers and hybrid choices you can naturalise to return year after year.
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The best pink tulips to grow
Tulipa ‘Virichic’
A lily-flowered tulip with bold-pink petals with a green flash up the centre.
50cm. Late April – May.
Tulipa ‘Don Quichotte’
With shocking, magenta-pink flowers, this is an excellent tulip for contrasting with cooler colours. You can combine them well with autumn-sown Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ or forget-me-nots.
Award of Garden Merit. 55cm. April-May.
Tulipa ‘Flaming Purissima’
A creamy-coloured base to the bowl-shaped flowers flushes to a rosy-pink at the top, with a rich raspberry tint inside. The strong stems are good for cut flowers.
35cm. April.
Tulipa ‘China Pink’
Lily-flowering tulip with small flowers on tall stems in soft pink, graduating to a darker pink in the centre of each petal. Complemented by greyish foliage.
Award of Garden Merit. 50cm. April-May.
Tulipa ‘Double Dazzle’
I have to admit that there is a lack of elegance about some double tulips, but the glorious depth of colour in this Early Double is its redeeming feature. It is particularly lovely when combined with glaucous leaves.
45cm. Early to late April.
Tulipa ‘Gabriella’
A wonderful sugary, pale-pink Triumph tulip that lightens to the edge of the petals. It looks as though it’s catching the light, even on a dull day.
45cm. Early to late April.
Tulipa ‘Menton’
Like a super athlete, this Single Late is a bold and lustrous tulip, very tall and bursting with health. It’s an iridescent pink with an exotic shimmer of salmon, and orange.
Award of Garden Merit. 65cm. Early to late May.
Tulipa ‘Auxerre’
A feathered, creamy-white tulip edged with pink. It becomes predominantly pink with age.
55cm. April to May.
Tulipa ‘Fancy Frills’
As its name suggests, this frothy, fringed tulip, in white blending to rose-pink up the petals, is one for the boudoir.
Award of Garden Merit. 50cm. May.
Tulipa ‘Foxtrot’
A Double Early to die for, the colour of old rose becoming more intense as it ages. Suitable for indoor planting and early forcing from the end of February.
Award of Garden Merit. 40cm. April.
Tulipa ‘Margarita’
With its pale-edged, rich, pinkish-magenta petals and soft, sweet fragrance, the peony-shaped ‘Margarita’ is perfect for pots or the front of a border.
40cm. Late April.
Tulipa ‘Pink Impression’
The saying ‘in the pink’ might have been specially coined for this tulip. Deep-rose petals at its centre fade to softer pink around the edges. All beautifully set off by silver-green leaves.
Award of Garden Merit. 55cm. End of April.
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Tulipa ‘Queensland’
Double, candy-pink ruffles with a deep, frosty-white fringe. Flowering late in the season, this is one of the last tulips standing in the garden.
25cm. Mid May.
Tulipa ‘Peppermintstick’
This vigorous cultivar has typical white tepals, the outer layer coloured with cerise veining on the reverse. The blooms fall open on a sunny day to reveal a dark inner blotch ringed with dark anthers. Will naturalise.
Award of Garden Merit. 25cm. March-April.
Tulipa saxatilis
Provided it gets enough heat, light and drainage, this is one of the most rewarding species. Produces colonies of soft pink blooms, blotched with egg-yolk yellow. Leaves appear in November but remain undamaged by frosts.
20cm. April.
Tulipa humilis ‘Eastern Star’
A magenta cultivar with a strong yellow eye of a highly variable species that throws up many different colours. In the wild, in central Asia at heights above 3,000m, it blooms as late as July – but in UK gardens tends to flower earlier.
10cm. April.
Tulipa ‘Ballade’
Has the sharply reflexed petals typical of lily-flowered tulips. They open into a wide, shallow flower, deep pink, edged with white. Inside, a surprising turquoise basal blotch on a white background.
55cm. April-May.
Tulipa clusiana
The lady tulip was one of the first wild tulips to come into Europe. Crimson-washed outer petals are pure-white inside, stained by a basal blotch of deep purple.
25cm. April.
Tulipa ‘Temple of Beauty’
A tulip of great poise, with sharply pointed orange petals flushed up the centre with deep pink. A descendant of the old Cottage Group tulips, known for their staying power.
Award of Garden Merit. 60cm. April to May.
Tulipa ‘Mistress Mystic’
A very prettily shaped tulip, the petals curving out slightly at the top. Complex shades of violet, veined over a very pale pink.
50cm. Late April.
Tulipa ‘Innuendo’
A bright and vibrant candy-pink and ivory Triumph with unusual glaucous foliage. A fun and refreshingly playful choice.
45cm. April to May.
Tulipa ‘Florosa’
A graceful viridiflora. The shapely, slender petals are cream, strongly streaked with green and pastel-pink tips. The wonderful shape develops as it matures, bringing a sense of dynamism to schemes.
45cm. April to May.
Tulipa ‘Lady Jane’
A slight but striking tulip that will happily naturalise if given free-draining soil. The outer petals are washed in pink and demurely open out in the sun.
Award of Garden Merit. 40cm. April to May.
Tulipa ‘Cool Crystal’
An exuberant double that packs a punch. The layered and fringed petals are deep pink with flashes of white at the base.
45cm. April to May.
Tulipa ‘Angélique’
The colour of the soft blush-pink petals on this showy double deepen with age. It has strong stems and makes a spectacular cut flower. Like a glorious, fragrant pink peony, it works beautifully with other tulips.
Award of Garden Merit. 45cm. Late April - early May.
Plant choices and words: Jonny Bruce, Marina Christopher, Kristy Ramage, Camilla Swift, Anna Pavord, Hannah Gardner, Stephanie Mahon, Mat Reese, Polly Nicholson, Tom Coward, Alys Fowler, Dan Pearson, Tom Brown, Asa Gregers-Warg.
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