Tulips bring colour and interest to any garden in spring and purple-flowered tulips can be particularly striking. From blowsy tulips through to delicate fringed varieties, there are purple tulips to suit every taste and garden.
We've asked professional gardeners, plantspeople, garden writers and designers to reveal their picks of the best purple tulip bulbs to grow. 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.
You may also like
- These incredible species tulips are small but amazing - here's how to grow them
- Tulips can be affected by a nasty disease: here's how to deal with tulip fire
- Enjoy tulips year after year: how to create sustainable tulip displays
The best purple tulips
Tulipa ‘Curly Sue’
A deliciously bruised, fringed tulip, in deep purple with aubergine edges. Very long flowering. Grey-green stems and foliage.
45cm. End of April to early May.
Tulipa ‘Flaming Flag’
An eye-catching broken Triumph tulip, with white petals beautifully marked with soft-purple flames, and handsome grey-green leaves. Surprisingly hardy and weather-resistant, it is especially easy to grow.
45-55cm. April.
Tulipa ‘Blue Diamond’
Blowsy, peony-like, violet blooms open early and last a long time. Fragrant and showy, it is reliable and strong growing.
45cm. April to May.
Tulipa ‘Claudia’
Lily-flowered, reddish purple tinged with white. Stunning in either borders or pots.
45cm. Early May.
Tulipa ‘Columbine’
An exquisite and rare Rembrandt tulip, a ‘broken’ tulip of the type that was prized by the English florists’ societies of the early 19th century. It opens to a wide cup, displaying black anthers inside.
50cm. Late April to May.
You may also like
- Polly Nicholson's tulip-filled walled garden
- What to do if your tulips aren't the colour you expected
- How to create a dazzling tulip display: top tips
Tulipa 'Violet Beauty’
This Single Late, goblet shaped tulip provides an unusual and lively colour that lifts the darker tones in surrounding planting, and evolves in hue over its blooming period.
60cm. Early to late May.
Tulipa ‘Merlot’
A tall, elegant tulip of the lily-flowered type, with petals that reflex slightly at their tips. Classically formed – a tulip of great poise.
65cm. Late April.
Tulipa ‘Negrita’
The classic purple tulip: perennial and robust. One of finest Triumphs, good on its own or in large drifts. Excellent in pots as it grows to a good height. The flowers are veined with seams of an even darker purple. At the base of each petal, there is a surprising clear blue blotch.
45cm. Mid-April - early May.
Tulipa ‘Purple Dream’
This lily-flowered tulip opens out on sunny spring days revealing a delicate ivory heart.
50-60cm. End of April - early May.
Tulipa ‘Rems Favourite’
Bred to look like a classic Rembrandt tulip – but actually modern, strong and long flowering – with purple and green veining over ivory.
50cm. April.
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.
Subscribe to Gardens Illustrated to have inspiration dropped on your doorstep every month.
