Pictures below are of hybrid or cultivar tulips grown or photographed by pbs list members. A book written in 2006 by Richard Wilford is a good source of information. Tulips are often described by divisions or groups. There are 15 divisions with the last one for species and hybrids that are not included in one of the groups. Species tulips can be found alphabetically by clicking on the links below or going to the index page.
Tulipa a-c – Tulipa d-h – Tulipa i-r – Tulipa s-z – Tulipa index
Division 1 - Single Early Group
This group includes single flowered cultivars with cup-shaped flowers that flower early.
The first two photos from Janos Agoston are of the cultivar 'Apricot Beauty', a RHS Award of Garden Merit winner with soft salmon-rose flowers with apricot edges and a pale green star at its base. The third photo from Jennifer Hildebrand taken January 2003 is of Tulipa 'Purple Prince' with lilac purple flowers with a beet purple interior.
Division 2 - Double Early Group
This group includes double-flower cultivars that are short stemmed and early flowering (mid-spring). Flowers are peony like and long lasting.
Tulipa 'Monte Carlo' has sulphur yellow flowers and received the RHS Award of Merit. Photos from Janos Agoston. Tulipa 'Willem van Oranje' in the last photo is a double early tulip of gorgeous coloration, orange flushed coppery red, photographed by Jim McKenney in his USDA zone 7 Maryland garden.
Division 3 - Triumph Group
The Triumph tulips are robust mid to late spring tulips with single, cup-shaped blooms in a wide array of colors and color variegation. They are 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in). Their parentage includes Single Early, Darwin, and Cottage types.
Photos from Janos Agoston of a few cultivars shown below: 'Arabian Mystery', dark-purple and white margined, 'Brigitta', a combination of yellow, orange and red, and Tulipa 'Gavota', a cultivar with deep maroon flowers edged with gold and white and wine red center flames on each petal. 'Gavota' received the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
'Happy Generation' has white flowers flamed with red; 'Kees Nelis' has yellow flowers margined orange-red; 'Negrita' has purple-red-veined flowers tinted with blue outside; and 'Shirley' has white flowers that are purple-margined and spotted with purple at their bases.
Division 4 - Darwin Hybrid Group
This group includes cultivars that are the result of hybridization between old Darwin and Fosteriana tulips (cultivars, sub-species, varieties and hybrids that resemble Tulipa fosteriana). There are many cultivars available for purchase. They are single-flowered, flowering in mid-season with large, tall stemmed, and brightly colored, sometimes multi-colored flowers or flowers with a contrasting eye. Planted in a sunny spot with good drainage and regular fertilization with the leaves allowed to dry out before being removed, in the right climate they will return and bloom faithfully so are often labeled as perennial tulips. If grown in climates with mild winters they can be grown in pots, stored dry in summer and prechilled for 4-6 weeks before planting. They are long lasting when treated this way as well.
Photos by Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller of unnamed cultivars. The last shows bulbs on a 1 cm grid.
Tulipa 'Big Chief' is a Darwin hybrid. Stems are 50 to 56 cm (20 to 22 in) and the large flowers are rose with hints of scarlet flushed with silvery-pink and a creamy yellow base. Color is variable depending on the season. This is a very striking long blooming tulip. Photos 1-5 from Mary Sue Ittner. The last photo from Janos Agoston.
Tulipa 'Daydream' is a RHS award of garden merit winner that starts out yellow and slowly changes every day from peach to a beautiful apricot orange as it matures. On sunny days flowers open wide. Photos below from Mary Sue Ittner show flowers at various stages.
Two cultivars that received the RHS award of garden merit are 'Ollioules', cherry pink flushed with pale pink, and 'Oxford' with large red flowers with a yellow base and a black center. Photos from Janos Agoston.
Division 5 - Single Late Group
This group includes former Darwin and Cottage tulips with single cup or goblet shaped flowers, often with pointed or reflexed tips in many colors. They have long stems and are late flowering and may be knocked over in windy weather.
Tulipa 'Blushing Beauty' is salmon, blushed yellow and pink with a pink-rimmed, yellow base. The photos by Jennifer Hildebrand show it growing in a container in Riverside, CA, zone 9-10.
Tulipa 'Candy Club' is a multi headed tulip that starts out white tinged pink on the edge with the pink intensifying as it matures. It grows to 50 cm. Photographs by David Pilling. In each photo all the flowers come from a single bulb.
Photos below from Janos Agoston of three winners of the RHS Award of Garden Merit, 'Kingsblood', dark cherry-red, edged scarlet, 'Menton', various shades of rose-pink with apricot-pink petal edges, a yellow base and an orange interior with white stripes, and 'Temple of Beauty', deep salmon-rose with darker and paler flushes above slightly mottled foliage.
Division 6 - Lily-flowered Group
This group includes single-flowered cultivars with goblet shaped flowers with pointed elongated flaring tips. They are 50 to 60 cm (20-24 in) tall and flowering mid to late season.
Photos from Janos Agoston of 'Ballerina', a fragrant tulip that was a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit and has marigold-orange flowers with scarlet flames and feathered lemon-yellow petal edges.
Tulipa 'China Pink' is a pink lily flowered tulip, and a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Photographs by David Pilling.
Tulipa 'White Triumphator' is a white lily flowered tulip, registered in 1942, and a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. In ancient Rome, a "triumphator" was a general to whom a triumph was given. Photographs by David Pilling. Note in the last picture, there are 8 petals and anthers, compared to the more common 6 shown in the previous one.
Division 7 - Fringed Group
This group includes cultivars with single cup-shaped flowers with fringed tepals that are 40 to 60 cm (14 to 26 in) tall. The fringe may be the same or a different color. They flower mid to late spring.
The first two photos from Janos Agoston are of 'Blue Heron', a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. It has violet-purple flowers with a lighter violet fringe. The last three photos from Jennifer Hildebrand are of Tulipa 'Lambada' growing in a container in Riverside, CA.
The first two photos from Janos Agoston are of Tulipa 'Fancy Frills', a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit with white and pink flowers. The last photo is of Tulipa 'Fringed Beauty', a tulip that over the years has been placed in both the double early group and the fringed group. Listed in the tulip registry as a sport of an even older tulip 'Titian'. Photographed by Jim McKenney in his USDA zone 7 Maryland garden on April 15, 2011.
Division 8 - Viridiflora Group
This group is late flowering with single flowers with the back of the tepals streaked with green. They vary in height from 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in).
Photos below from Janos Agoston of RHS Award of Garden Merit winners: 'Artist', a mix of salmon, rose, purple and orange flushed with green, 'Esperanto', rose pink fading to pale pink toward the base and soft green feathering and leaves with white edges, and 'Spring Green', ivory white flowers flushed with green that fades to greenish yellow.
Division 9 - Rembrandt Group
This group includes tulips infected with tulip breaking virus (TBV). Although they can be very beautiful with broken patterns of flames and feathers, they are no longer sold commercially to prevent the virus from spreading to other tulips.
Photos from Janos Agoston show tulips from other groups that have been infected with this virus.
Division 10 - Parrot Group
This group takes its name from the shape of the flower in bud which resembles a parrot's beak. Flowering in late spring, the single cup-shaped flowers are fringed and ruffled on stems of 40 to 70 cm (16-28 in) tall.
Photos from Janos Agoston. The first four are of RHS Award of Garden Merit winners 'Apricot Parrot', described as apricot pink with tinges of creamy-white, yellow, salmon-pink and green, and 'Black Parrot', purple-black with scallops and fringe. The last two are of 'Rococo', a cultivar with red tepals flushed with purple and a splash of yellow or green.
Division 11 - Double Late Group
This group has double, peony-like, bowl shaped, late spring flowers on stems 40 to 60 cm (16-24 in) tall.
Tulipa 'Angelique' is a double late flowered cultivar that has pale white to rose pink peony shaped flowers. It was a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner.
Division 12 - Kaufmanniana Group
This group includes cultivars and hybrids of plants derived from species from central Asia that look most like Tulipa kaufmanniana. They also have Tulipa fosteriana and Tulipa gregii in their heritage. They usually have short stems and large bowl or cup shaped flowers, single or in clusters, sometimes with dark spots or dashes on their leaves. Opening very wide in the sun, they are known as water-lily tulips.
Photos below were taken by Janos Agoston. The first two are of the cultivar 'Fashion' and the second two of the cultivar 'Giuseppe Verdi'.
More cultivars photographed by Janos Agoston are shown below. Photos 1 and 2 show 'Johann Strauss', golden yellow fading to primrose at the edges and flushed with red early in the season with leaves striped with purple, photo 3 'Showwinner', scarlet red, and photos 4-6 'Stresa', red with yellow edges and interior and mottled foliage. 'Showwinner' and 'Stresa' were winners of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
'Scarlet Baby', red with a yellow base, photographed by David Pilling.
Video time lapse by David Pilling, Tulipa kaufmanniana 'Scarlet Baby', taken on 13th April 2013 between 12:43 and 15:35 as a depression moved across north west England from the south west, changing the weather from sunshine to rain.
Division 13 - Fosteriana Group
This group includes cultivars that closely resemble the species, Tulipa fosteriana. They have been hybridized from the native tulips of Central Asia and have broad leaves, sometimes mottled or striped and large flowers and flower early. They can perennialize in well drained soils in cold regions. The flowers are single, bowl-shaped, sometimes margined or flamed with different colors and with contrasting bases.
Photos below from Janos Agoston of some of the cultivars. Tulipa 'Candela' or the 'Yellow Emperor' is a bright pure yellow tulip shown in the first two photos. Tulipa 'Concerto' shown in the other photos has white flowers with a black internal base. Photos from Janos Agoston.
Tulipa 'Hit Parade' shown in the first three photos is mostly yellow but with a black and red base. Tulipa 'Juan' shown in the last three photos has red-orange flowers with yellow centers and beautiful variegated leaves. It was a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Photos by Janos Agoston and Mary Sue Ittner.
Tulipa 'Madam Lefeber', now mostly called 'Red Emperor', and shown in the first three photos is a bright fiery red. Tulipa 'Princeps' shown in the last two photos is similar. Photos from Janos Agoston.
Tulipa 'Orange Emperor' shown in the first three photos has orange petals with a pale yellow base. Tulipa 'Purissima' or 'White Emperor' shown in the last three photos has large rounded flowers starting out primrose and fading to white. Both cultivars were winners of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Photos from Janos Agoston.
Division 14 - Greigii Group
This group includes hybrids that most resemble Tulipa greigii but also have Tulipa fosteriana and Tulipa kaufmanniana in their parentage. They have leaves striped or streaked with purple that are held close to ground and brightly colored flowers, often with different colors and contrasting bases on stems 20 to 30 cm ( 8-12 in) tall.
Tulipa 'Calypso' has glowing orange-red flowers adorned with canary-yellow margins. Photos from Janos Agoston.
Tulipa 'Cape Cod' shown in the first three photos has apricot petals edged yellow. Tulipa 'Czar Peter', also seen spelled 'Czaar Peter', shown in the last two photos is creamy white speckled and feathered with pink with brown and yellow markings in its center.
Tulipa 'Orange Toronto', photographed by David Pilling; bulbs shown on a 10 mm grid. This cultivar is described by the vendor as "marigold orange edged nasturtium red, yellow green flame on coral pink background" and producing between 2 and 5 flowers per stem, height 35 cm. Photo 3 shows the characteristic patterning on the leaves of Greigii tulips.
Tulipa 'Pinocchio' shown in the first two photos is ivory-white flamed with red up the center with a bronze heart. Tulipa 'Quebec' shown in the last two photos is a multi-flowered creamy white cultivar striped red with a lemon base. Photos below from Janos Agoston.
The first two photos of Tulipa 'Red Riding Hood', one of the best known cultivars and a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. It is red with black basal markings inside. 'Tarafa' shown in the third and fourth photos is rose, edged yellow and 'Toronto', shown in the last two photos is a multi-flowered cultivar described sometimes as rosy pink flowers flushed red with a yellow base or "jasper tinged red vermillion". It was a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Photos below from Janos Agoston.
Division 15 - Miscellaneous Group
This category is often called botanical tulips. It includes species and hybrids not included in other groups. These plants are usually smaller than modern hybrids. Species are pictured on our species pages with links below.
Tulipa 'Little Beauty' was developed by W. Van Lierop & Sons and introduced in 1991. It has fragrant flowers with red to pink petals with a dark blue center edged in white. Flowers close at night and do not open on cloudy days. It received the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1997. This cultivar has responded well to saving in a paper bag in summer and chilling before planting in Northern California. Photos from Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller.
Tulipa 'Little Princess' was a winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. A marvelous dwarf rock garden tulip, it is said to be a cross between Tulipa hageri and Tulipa aucheriana. However, each of those species is itself in question, with Tulipa hageri thought to be a synonym of Tulipa orphanidea and Tulipa aucheriana, a dwarf rose-pink tulip, now considered to be a variety of T. humilis. This cultivar has brilliant copper-orange flowers on 3" (7.5 cm) stems and a light fragrance. There's a bold yellow zone at the center, with striking blue-black or green-black flares at the base, and black anthers. The outside of the flower is a lighter melon color, tinged with green. Photos by Mark McDonough. The fourth shows the plants at late anthesis, the flowers aged to a brilliant red, and stems lengthened to reach 6" (15 cm). The last photo shows a mature clump taken 2 years after the previous photos. Notice T. bakeri 'Lilac Wonder' in the background.
More pictures taken in Northern California. In the first picture the buds are covered in rain drops. Then we had two days with sunshine. The first day these pictures were taken when the sun was not shining yet, but there was no rain, warm temperatures, and nice bright light. And finally the back of the flowers the next sunny day before the flowers opened fully. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner.
Tulipa 'Red Cup' was purchased as Tulipa humilis 'Red Cup' but there doesn't seem to be much information about this cultivar. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner. The bulbs are on a 1 cm grid.
Tulipa vvedenskyi hybrid. An unnamed T. vvedenskyi hybrid obtained from Janis Ruksans that may have T. fosteriana or T. greigii or another tulip species in its blood. Photo by John Lonsdale.
Tulipa a-c – Tulipa d-h – Tulipa i-r – Tulipa s-z – Tulipa index