I planted these tulips along the edge of the drive two or three years ago, as an underplanting to a lavender hedge. Sadly the lavender hedge has been a bit of a disaster, and its remains will have to be dug out and replaced this year, but I was waiting until after the tulips had finished before starting the job.
They are the very ordinary Red Aperdoorn tulips, for me the quintissential Max Bygraves Amsterdam tulip, and I like them for their very tulip-ness, if you know what I mean, and although I wouldn't normally plant things in soldier-like rows, I think tulips lend themselves to this situation and I'm pleased with the effect. Underplanting with forget me nots (rather than dead lavender) would be un-original, but no less enchanting for all that.
You need to get your tulips in the Autumn for planting in the dormant season, but you don't need to rush to plant them early when you put in your other spring flowering bulbs, and they can happily go in any time during the winter months when the ground is reasonable, even as late as January.
