Wiltshire


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-1000x667.jpg" alt="The Tulip Garden by Polly Nicholson Phaidon " class="wp-image-36186" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Andrew Montgomery / The Tulip Garden</figcaption></figure>



<p>When Muddy Stilettos catches up with specialist tulip grower Polly Nicholson there’s a sense of anticipation in the air. Her garden at Blackland House, near Calne, is bursting into bloom, and she’s in the midst of preparations for the tulip season, culminating in Chelsea Flower Show where she is a Floral Judge. Tickets for her National Garden Scheme open days have just sold out in record time, and her cutting garden will soon be in full swing. <a href="https://www.bayntunflowers.co.uk/about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bayntun Flowers</a> supplies organic cut flowers to a select clientele, including Shane Connolly, Florist by Royal Appointment to HM the King.</p>



<p>So, who better to ask for advice on planting, growing and making the most of your tulips? Here, Polly shares her top tips&#8230;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-go-big">Go Big</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-3-1000x667.jpg" alt="The Tulip Garden by Polly NIcholson (Phaidon). Image by Andrew Montgomery" class="wp-image-36184" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-3-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-3.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Andrew Montgomery / The Tulip Garden</figcaption></figure>



<p>‘I love huge containers,’ says Polly, author of <a href="https://www.phaidon.com/store/home-and-garden/the-tulip-garden-growing-and-collecting-species-rare-and-annual-varieties-9781838667689/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>The Tulip Garden</em></a><em>.</em> ‘They have so much more impact. At Blacklands, we opt for quirky vintage containers up to three or even four foot in diameter. They’re often slightly rusted and I prefer them large, because they are much easier to maintain. It’s far quicker to water one big container than lots of little ones, and they don’t harbour colonies of slugs in the same way. Clusters of smaller pots create hiding spaces for slugs and snails, whereas it’s easier to monitor a big container. Just run your finger round the inside of the rim, remove any slugs and chuck them over the garden wall (assuming you don’t have vulnerable neighbours!).’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-experiment"><strong>Experiment</strong></h2>



<p>‘Plant bulbs in peat free compost, with good drainage, in November,’ says Polly. ‘And do experiment, so you don’t get stuck in a groove. Try planting a series of pots with identical pure white tulips, like Tulipa ‘Très Chic’, or have fun with a cacophony of clashing colours.&nbsp; Run the pots down the centre of a table and when they’ve finished flowering dry them out and plant them back in the garden come late Autumn. They should reappear the following year.’ &nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-choose-wisely"><strong>Choose wisely</strong></h2>



<p>‘It’s much more cost effective to buy tulips in bulk,’ says Polly. ‘I recommend choosing varieties that are more likely to come back. I go heavy on Lily-flowered&nbsp;and Viridiflora tulips, which have green in the petals. They are two of my favourite divisions.’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-go-wild"><strong>Go wild</strong></h2>



<p>‘I don’t plant ‘normal’ annual tulips in my flower beds,’ says Polly. ‘It’s partly because I find that rather municipal in appearance, but they also don’t flower as well the following year. Instead, I plant them in containers or in my cutting garden. I plant species tulips at the front of my herbaceous beds, where they can be best appreciated.&nbsp; Species tulips, also known as botanical tulips, are the original wild tulips.&nbsp; They are smaller in stature, slender-stemmed and quieter in nature. They’ll come back year after year and create their own colonies by stolon, seed or offsets, so you end up with a steadily increasing, perennial display.’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-break-the-rules"><strong>Break the rules</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="666" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-Andrew-Montgomery.jpg" alt="The Tulip Garden Polly Nicholson image by Andrew Montgomery" class="wp-image-36152" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-Andrew-Montgomery.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-Andrew-Montgomery-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-Andrew-Montgomery-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Andrew Montgomery / The Tulip Garden</figcaption></figure>



<p>‘Whether you’re planting bulbs or arranging cut tulips in a vase, don’t worry about the traditional rule of grouping in odd numbers,’ says Polly. ‘There&#8217;s absolutely nothing wrong with planting half a dozen tulips together as opposed to five or seven. I supply a lot of flowers for Shane Connolly, Florist by Royal Appointment, and he’s taught me to disregard this fairly recent tradition. When he’s making his beautiful table decorations, he’ll happily have two or four stems arranged together.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deadhead"><strong>Deadhead</strong></h2>



<p>‘If you want tulips to come back, it’s better to lift the bulbs,’ says Polly. ‘I wait for the flowers to finish, then I snap off the dead flower head. It stops the tulip forming a seed head, and the energy goes back down into the formation of a new bulb instead. I then leave them in situ looking a bit tatty for a few weeks, before digging them up and drying them under cover, stripping the desiccated leaves away and replanting them later in the year.’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-recycle-bulbs"><strong>Recycle bulbs</strong></h2>



<p>‘Come November, I’ll replant the annual tulips in the banks along our drive,’ says Polly. ‘They’ll then reappear the following year if I’m lucky (and if the deer don’t get them).&nbsp; You have to accept that if you’re recycling commercially bred tulips, they’ll dwindle slightly second time round. It’s all very time consuming but I’m fortunate that I have a great team, led by Andy Wilson, our head gardener.’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-control-pests"><strong>Control pests</strong></h2>



<p>‘To stop slugs nibbling your tulip bulbs and the emerging leaves, protect the drainage hole in the base of the pot with fine mesh. I use chicken wire hats over the tops, sprigs of holly and even chilli pepper to deter squirrels until the shoots are about 3” high.’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-keep-cut-flowers-cool"><strong>Keep cut flowers cool</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-2-1000x667.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-36185" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-2-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/03/The-Tulip-Garden-by-Polly-Nicholson-Phaidon-Photography-by-Andrew-Montgomery-2.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Andrew Montgomery / The Tulip Garden</figcaption></figure>



<p>‘I’m often asked how to stop tulips flopping in the vase, but it’s only really mass-produced&nbsp;tulips that droop. Don’t keep them in the kitchen, it’s usually too warm, opt for a cooler bedroom or hallway instead. And avoid positioning them near a fruit bowl too, because ripening fruit emits ethylene, which will bring about a much faster demise of any flower.’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-add-natural-foliage"><strong>Add natural foliage</strong></h2>



<p>‘For a beautiful bunch of cut flowers, I team tulips with garden or hedgerow foliage,’ says Polly. ‘This could be sinewy tree branches, which are just breaking into bud, hazel, beech or even young oak. If I have a polytunnel crop such as ranunculus or anemones in flower, I’ll mix those in too.’</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-and-don-t-stress">And don&#8217;t stress&#8230; </h2>



<p>‘Finally, remember that gardening should be soothing and enjoyable pleasurable, not a source of stress,’ says Polly. ‘Your garden doesn’t have to be immaculate and it’s not about impressing people. It’s for you, your head and the wildlife in your surroundings, Having said that, my garden is pretty immaculate!’</p>



<p><strong>Find out more in<em> <a href="https://www.phaidon.com/store/home-and-garden/the-tulip-garden-growing-and-collecting-species-rare-and-annual-varieties-9781838667689/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Tulip Garden</a></em> by Polly Nicholson, with photography by Andrew Montgomery (Phaidon, £29.95)</strong></p>


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