Pinocchio Tulip Bulbs, Greigii Hybrid

Pinocchio Dwarf Rockery Tulips

Our noses would really grow longer if we were lying, but Pinocchio is a winner amongst dwarf tulips, a great favourite and worth of any children's story illustration. The flowers, borne on short, strong stems are a vermilion red and each petal is edged in its entirety with a frill of ivory white. The effect is almost butterfly like when you look at the whole flower. The lanceolated leaves are an added attraction being a gorgeous fern green with a mottled maroon effect. Browse all of our tulip bulbs.

A fairy tale flower

The Pinocchio tulip's striking colouring makes him a stand-out choice for any pots that you have on your terrace or for window and balcony boxes. As a much-loved and slightly naughty son, he is equally at home popping up in the garden with his red and white cheeks ablaze. Try growing him with  Anemone nemorosa in a lawn or in a pot, or with forget-me-nots along the edge of a border and then plant white alliums to emerge through them later. The leaves make great ground cover.The Greigii tulips flower after the Fosteriana or Kaufmanniana tulips Heart's Delight or Johann Strauss, but like them Pinocchio naturalises and flowers every year with no trouble at all, so they are also real value for money. To find out more about these fascinating flowers, buy our collection of Dwarf tulip bulbs and see what wonderful helpmeets they are to each other.

Features

• Height: 20 cm
• Colour: red and white
• Flower size: up to 12 cm
• Flowering time: March-April
• Group: Greigii Hybrid
• Foliage: mottled

The Legend of Pinocchio

Greigii tulips are sometimes known as the peacocks of the tulip world because of their dandy-ish colouring and mottled, exotic leaves. There are over 100 species of tulip divided into fifteen categories, of which Greigii hybrids are one. Although they are native to much of Europe and Asia, we now associate tulips with Holland where the majority of the highest quality bulbs are still cultivated. Pinocchio himself was the creation of Carlo Collodi in 1833 and is one of the most enduring characters in children's literature - an attribute that could also be applied to this tulip.

• 10 small bulbs: anemones, crocus, dwarf daffodils, iris reticulata etc or
• 5 large bulbs: hyacinths, daffodils, tulips