Flames Mystery

If you like to start the Tulip season with a colourful bang, Flames Mystery is Tulip to plant, what a wonderful colour. Even I was in a bit of a shock when I first saw her. It was early April, and I was driving through the Boermansweg in Anna Paulowna, the first Daffodils had just started flowering. Suddenly, halfway in the field, half a bed of Tulips caught my eye. They were in full bloom and had a mythical red colour. Or better jet, a red-ish colour. The Mystery part of her name certainly has to do with her colour, because it is very hard to describe. If the sun shines, she almost seems orange, if there is a small cloud in front of the sun, it looks more like she is pink, when it is very cloudy you would for sure say she is red. But clouds or no clouds, standing out is for sure something she does like no other. A wonderful small Tulip which fares very well in pots and planters.

Flames Mystery is a type of ‘fosteriana’ Tulip, a group which flowers early and for a long time. By the way the long flowering period has nothing to do with one Tulip being stronger than the other. The biggest reason is in the timing. Fosteriana Tulips start growing early in April, when it is a lot cooler than in May, and in these cool circumstances Tulips can last way longer.