Some tulips you plant for color. Rainbow Parrot you plant because it looks like nothing else in the garden. One flower carries red, orange, yellow, lime green, hot pink, and the occasional streak of plum, all twisted up in petals that are ruffled, fringed, and curled like crepe paper. No two blooms come out the same. Open one in the morning and check it again at lunch, the colors will have shifted as the sun warms the petals. This is the tulip we get the most photos of every spring. Customers send them in. It happens with this variety more than any other we sell. You're looking at a parrot tulip with a serious wow factor. What it looks like in the garden:Stems run 14 to 20 inches tall and stay sturdier than most parrot types. The flower itself is big, a fully open Rainbow Parrot bloom can stretch 5 inches across. The shape is what catches people. Parrot tulips have wavy, slashed petals that look more like a feathered headdress than a flower. Add the rainbow color mix on top of that shape, and there's nothing subtle about it. Bloom time runs mid to late spring, usually after the early Triumphs and Darwins have finished. That's a nice spot in the season because the garden can feel a bit empty between tulip waves, and Rainbow Parrot fills it. Where to plant: Full sun is best. Six hours minimum. The flowers open wider in warm sun and close back up at night, which lets the colors show off twice a day. Soil should drain. Tulips hate sitting in wet ground over summer. Heavy clay shortens the life of the bulb. If that's what you've got, work in compost or grit, or plant Rainbow Parrot tulips in raised beds and large pots. Plant bulbs in fall, 5 to 8 inches deep, about 5 to 6 inches apart, pointy end up. The deeper end of that range is better in colder zones and helps the stocky stems stay upright when a heavy bloom catches the wind. Cold winters help. Rainbow Parrot does best in USDA zones 3 through 7, where the bulbs get a long natural chill. Gardeners in zones 8 and warmer can still grow it as an annual by treating it like a one-season flower, or by pre-chilling bulbs in the refrigerator for 12 to 14 weeks before planting. Cut flower notes Florists love this one. Rainbow Parrot is on the short list of tulips people pay extra for at the farmers market. Cut the stem when the bud is still tight but the outer petals are starting to show color, that's the moment to bring them inside. Tulips keep growing in the vase, sometimes adding an inch or two and curving toward the light, so set them a little lower in the arrangement than you want them to end up. Vase life runs 7 to 10 days with fresh water and a clean cut every couple of days. If you want a wild arrangement on the table, pair Rainbow Parrot with simple white tulips or some greenery and let the parrot petals do the talking. A handful in a clear glass jar is enough. A little history:Parrot tulips first showed up in 17th-century France as mutations of older tulip types. Growers noticed the strange feathered petals on the occasional bulb, saved them, and propagated them on. Rainbow Parrot is a modern Dutch selection in that line, a clean, vigorous tulip bred to throw its full rainbow on every stem. Tulips themselves came out of the mountains of Central Asia and were carried into Europe through Turkey in the 1500s, which is when the Dutch fell hard for them. Four hundred years later, we're still planting them every fall. Quick facts:Botanical name: Tulipa 'Rainbow Parrot' (also known as Rasta Parrot) Tulip class: Parrot Height: 14 to 20 inches Bloom time: Mid to late spring (April to May) Flower color: Red, orange, yellow, green, pink, purple, multicolored on every flowerFlower size: Up to 5 inches across when fully open Petal style: Deeply fringed, ruffled, twisted Light: Full sun Soil: Well-drained Planting depth: 5 to 8 inches Spacing: 5 to 6 inches USDA zones: 3 to 7 (annual in 8 and up) Excellent cut flower (vase life 7 to 10 days) Deer resistant: no, fence them or use repellent if deer pass through Plant in fall, blooms the following spring Last word, if you want one tulip that makes guests pull out their phones and ask what it is, this is it. Order enough for a real patch, at least 25 bulbs in one spot. Scattered, parrot tulips look lonely. Grouped, Tulip Rainbow Parrot turns a flat corner of the yard into the kind of view people slow down for.
