When I wrote this post about black houseplants, a little over five years ago now, I had no idea it would be so popular. Black plants fascinated me way before goth gardening became a trend. And I can guarantee I’ll be just as smitten with them a long time after goth gardening goes out of fashion.
First among the bloomers in a goth garden are the black tulips. But is there such a thing as a real black tulip? Or is it just a myth?
I read a very informative display on the topic on my third visit to the Keukenhof Gardens, the largest tulip garden in the world, located in The Netherlands. I believe this was a temporary display, so I took advantage of the curated exhibit and took some notes to share with you about what makes black tulips so special. It might not be there this year.
3 Things you should know about black tulips
1. Black tulips are not a new fad.
The quest to develop a real black tulip goes back centuries. It’s not just a new InstaPinterest trend, but something that professional growers have been trying to achieve for hundreds of years.
The obsession with black tulips reached epic proportions after Alexandre Dumas published his novel, The Black Tulip, in 1850. The plot is set in the Netherlands during the tulip mania of 1672 and focuses around the race to grow a black tulip.
Because true black is a color that doesn’t occur naturally in nature, this quest is still ongoing.
2. Black tulips are actually a deep dark purple.
Crossing a dark-colored tulip (such as purple or dark red) with a yellow one results in an even darker colored tulip. It looks black, but it’s not a true black.
3. It can take decades for a new tulip breed to be registered.
The first time a breeder claimed success over the elusive black tulip was in 1891, when famous grower E. H. Krelage released La Tulipe Noire (named after Alexandre Dumas’ novel).
The frilly Black Parrot tulip was registered by C. Keur way back in 1937.
It was followed by the now extremely popular Queen of Night black tulip in 1944, registered by JJ Grullemans.
The Black Beauty tulip was the next one on the market, in 1955, developed by M. van Waveren.
Not keen on reinventing the wheel, in the 1970s, breeder Geert Hageman started cross-fertilizing seeds from these previous attempts in an attempt to create an even blacker tulip. It takes about seven years from seed to flower for a tulip and Hageman produced over a thousand specimens. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that he registered the Paul Scherer black tulip. Talk about mixing passion with perseverance.
As I said, the search for the perfect black tulip still continues. Since 2000, the Dutch Royal Bulb Growers’ Association registered eleven new breeds of black tulip.
8 Black tulips that are easier to find
Queen of Night – a single late tulip, one of the oldest black tulips still available to buy
Fringed Black – a single, slightly fringed variety
Ronaldo – a dark burgundy Triumph variety
Nightmare – a classic tulip shape that appears black even in the sunlight (see my photo above)
Black Parrot – a late-blooming fringed variety
Paul Scherer – a cultivar in the Triumph group
Black Hero – a double late variety of Queen of Night
Palmyra – not really black, but a dark shade of burgundy (see my photo above)
Tulip bulbs come up for sale in the fall. So since I’m writing this article in March, I can’t link to any tulip vendors. But I’ve made a note in my calendar to curate a list of black tulips for sale in September and update this post. You can bookmark this page or subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll let you know once it’s ready. The newsletter box is a bit further down the page.
Until then, have a look at this list of other black plants for your garden. They’re absolutely stunning. And all sold by small US-based businesses with good reviews at the time of publication. Click on the image below to open.
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