1. Tulips are plants of areas with a hard and long cold winter, a short spring and a hot dry summer in which the bulbs are well baked. In Western Europe these conditions are hard to find and this is the main reason why tulips are not reliable perennials.

2. In the wild the tulip bulbs are generally found very deep, often up to 40cm down. It is believed that the bulbs plant themselves deep because they prefer temperature that fluctuates as little as possible. For planting in your own garden, however, 15-20cm deep is in most cases quite sufficient.

3. Tulips benefit by being planted fairly late. Soil that is still too warm at planting time disturbs the delicate dormancy the bulb might still be in. Starting in autumn tulip bulbs need a cool period to form a good root system which enables them to produce a good flower next spring.

4. Tulip bulbs are best planted when soil temperature have dropped below 10°C. This means that the best time for planting depends on where you live: in Scandinavia plant by late September; for Britain, Germany and Holland the best time is October or early November; plant late November in southern France; mid December in the south of Italy.

5. Treat tulips as annuals where a perfect display is desired: after flowering, lift and discard the bulbs and replant fresh ones next autumn. In less formal situations you can leave the bulbs in place. Next year’s flowers will be uneven in size and height, but that can have its own special charm.

6. Which end of a tulip bulb is up? Tulip bulb are best planted with the pointed end facing up. But don’t worry too much about this. Tulips know to send their shoots up and their roots down. They will grow and bloom even if you plant them upside down.

7. There is no such thing as a blue tulip. You’ll find tulips described and pictured as blue in catalogues and on the web but when spring comes, the blue you longed for will be just another shade of lilac, violet or purple. Despite the ever-growing range of tulip colours, blue is still just a hybridizer’s dream. Closest of all tulips to ‘true blue’ is: Blue Parrot. Other recommended violets and purples are: Blue Diamond; Cummins; and Negrita.

8. The quality of tulips slowly unfolding their beauty emphasizes the fact that to know them you must live with them. Where tulips are planted by hundreds in parks or public grounds, they make beautiful pictures. But these large displays will not give you as much real pleasure as a single tulip slowly unfolding its loveliness in your own garden.