A Surprise Return

A feature recently appeared in the Telegraph about tulips that reliably re-flower year after year at Great Dixter. Spring Green, Purissima, Negrita and Ballerina were on the list – and I have found they are all worth the effort of drying the bulbs and replanting them in the borders the following autumn. More in hope than expectation, I also replanted several other varieties of tulips in the borders and the surprise performer was Evergreen, a very strange late-flowering green tulip which is growing just as well in the ground as it did in pots. Once the peonies are in flower they will make an arresting combination.