Tulip Ice Cream: all the secrets of a mysterious variety

The article presents tulip ice cream: description and characteristics of the variety, rules for planting, care, storage of bulbs.

Tulips are flowers that need no introduction. After all, after a long and gray winter, they are one of the first to delight us with bright colors and an incredible aroma. With the advent of tulips, our gardens come to life in anticipation of warmth, sun and the imminent arrival of the long-awaited summer.

Breeders never cease to amaze us with new varieties, the appearance of which is mesmerizing, and there is no chance to pass them by. One of the undisputed favorites for several seasons is the Ice Cream tulip. The name of the variety fully corresponds to the appearance of the flower, and it seems that just by looking at it, you already feel the taste and freshness of the ice cream. Ice Cream takes its rightful place in the top five most attractive tulip varieties. We will tell further about whether it is possible to grow a tulip that looks like ice cream in our latitudes.

Tulip ice cream: variety description

Tulip ice cream photo

Most gardeners and entire flower farms are engaged in the cultivation of tulips, which is quite justified, given the universal love for these flowers.

Tulips are perennial bulbous plants belonging to the lily family, including several dozen species. These flowers are immigrants from Central Asia, who have now settled all over the world, and for some European countries have even become the main source of rather good income.

Ice Cream "favorably stands out from the huge variety of varieties, the external resemblance of buds to ice cream. Their lower petals are pink, sometimes crimson, and the upper ones form a white cone. Terry petals are arranged quite densely, which makes the buds even more splendid.

However, you can also find monochrome varieties in which all the petals are painted in the same color.

Tulip ice cream: distinctive characteristics of the variety

Terry late tulip Ice Cream has a powerful stem, corresponding to the splendor and size of the bud, reaching a height of 40 cm. The bud is large, the diameter of the fully opened flower is at least 10 cm. The color of the lower petals has very diverse shades. For example, if it is pink, then on one petal you can see a whole palette, from dark pink to its subtle shade. The central petals, collected in a cone, are almost always blinding white in color.

The tulip is weakly susceptible to infections and diseases, and together with such quality as frost resistance, this variety is a real find. Pointing to its frost resistance, it is worth noting the value of negative temperatures that the flower can bear, and this is minus 30 degrees.

In comparison with other varieties, Ice Cream begins to bloom later, but it will decorate your site for two whole months. Such a long period is explained by the fact that the ice cream tulip bulbs bloom gradually. It should be noted that this feature of the variety is typical for cut tulips too.

The disadvantages of the variety include a small number of "children" formed in one season, as a rule, it is not more than 3 pieces.

Tulip ice cream photo, planting rules

Tulip "Ice cream" photo

In order for the flowering to be lush and long-lasting, certain recommendations must be followed, starting with the planting of the bulbs.

Before planting, the planting material must be kept in a disinfectant solution for several hours.For these purposes, potassium permanganate dissolved in water is quite suitable, which is always at hand for many gardeners.

When choosing a site for planting a tulip, it should be borne in mind that this variety "prefers" sunny places. With a lack of light, the tulip bud can grind, not open completely, and also lose its bright color.
The soil should be loose in order to avoid stagnant moisture, which can provoke diseases and infections of the roots of the plant.

Before planting the bulbs, be sure to add well-rotted organic matter into the hole. In addition, whenever possible, it is better to plant the tulip bulbs "Ice Cream" in the soil, the temperature of which does not exceed + 10 degrees.

It is not advisable to deepen the bulbs into the ground by more than 20 cm. And the distance between the bulbs should be at least 5-6 cm.

After planting the plants, we water them with warm water.

A flower bed or flower garden with tulips can be supplemented with other bulbs, such as daffodils or crocuses. They do not interfere with each other at all, since they land at different depths. They will bloom sequentially, one after another, and your flower bed will remain blooming for a long time. Another advantage of such a neighborhood is the absence of weeds.

As a rule, "Ice Cream" is planted in early autumn, so that by the onset of cold weather the bulbs get stronger and take root. For the winter, planting a tulip is recommended to mulch. It is good to use tree bark or coniferous litter as mulch.

If you nevertheless decide to plant the bulbs in the spring, then this should be done, if possible, earlier. For this, the plants are placed in a container with soil in winter, and when the weather improves and the soil warms up, they are planted in a permanent place.

Tulip Ice Cream: care, proper storage of bulbs

Tulips of such a decorative variety as "Ice Cream" require a special attitude in their care.
It is important for plants to provide watering appropriate for the weather conditions. If the weather is warm, corresponding to the climatic norm, watering is carried out once a week. In hot and dry weather, tulips are watered every two days.

Since the bulbs spend a lot of energy on bud formation and flowering, they need additional feeding to maintain their decorative appearance. Organic fertilizers are applied for the first time when planting bulbs. In the future, organic matter can also be used for these purposes, as well as complex mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Experts advise fertilizing at least 5 times during the growing season of the tulip.

In addition, plants should be regularly inspected for the appearance of insect pests that can ruin their appearance. For example, it is not uncommon for the aboveground part of plants to be damaged by slugs or snails. To combat them, you will have to treat the soil with appropriate preparations, which can be purchased at any specialized store. And for prevention purposes, the soil around the flowers can be powdered with tobacco dust or wood ash, which will impede their movement. By the way, some gardeners scatter cones around the plants, which, opening up, also block their path to flowers.

And, of course, we should not forget about weeding and loosening the soil, which will ensure the moisture capacity and air permeability of the soil.

If, having organized timely and proper care, you managed to see the flowering of tulips of this variety in all its glory, then ensuring the correct storage of the bulbs will not be at all difficult.

The organization of proper storage, which allows you to maintain the quality of planting material until the next season, includes a number of stages.

First, carefully dig the bulbs out of the ground.It should be noted that many gardeners practice planting bulbs in special containers, which they dig at the end of the season, thereby excluding possible damage to tulip bulbs. After all, it is very important to store the planting material that is not damaged. Otherwise, some of the bulbs can simply be “lost”, since pathogenic organisms can easily penetrate through the cuts, chips and other damage caused by digging, which subsequently infect the bulb.

Further, the bulbs are dried, after which the adhering earth and husks are removed. For storage, special containers are used, the size of which should allow the bulbs to be arranged in one row. Then, these containers are placed in a dry and cool room, not forgetting to periodically inspect this valuable planting material.
So, cultivation of the “Ice Cream” tulip variety does not present any special difficulties, and the small efforts that you have to make while caring for the plant are definitely worth seeing with your own eyes this tulip, unique in shape and color.

Tulip ice cream