Black and Near-black blooms for lovers of the unusual
You’re daring, you’re different and you love distinctive touches that make your garden stand out from the crowd. Simply gardening with bulbs already brings an element of that into the equation, but if you want show-stoppers that aren’t to be found in most bulb catalogues, the “Elite Bulbs” section of Farmer Gracy’s website is for you!
Today, we’ll take a closer look at some truly unusual black flower bulbs and near-black elite bulbs that are sure to add drama to your garden. Remember to combine them with lights or brights that will really throw them into prominence. Contrast is king when you want to show off blooms such as these. Ideally, you won’t want to mix up too many colours if your elites are to get the attention they deserve, so combine them with single colours. White, pink, yellow, blue and red are all good companions for black.
Tulip Black Hero
Black tulips are already a way of moving from the relatively mundane to the remarkable, but Tulip Black Hero outshines other dark-flowered Tulip cultivars thanks to its profusion of petals. Its flowering time makes it perfect for blooming with Muscari (Grape Hyacinths), but you can also combine it with other tulips. Tulip Spring Green is white with touches of green, making it a perfect foil for Black Hero. Golden Parade Tulips are another striking choice that will make your black blooms display to excellent advantage.
Tulip Vincent Van Gogh
A shade of burgundy so deep that it’s nearly black combined with the fringed petals of crispa tulips make this arty bloom a real show-off. The way the sun shines through the petals of Tulip Vincent van Gogh bringing out the burgundy glow is stunning on its own, but clever combinations still help to emphasize the beauties of this rare tulip cultivar. We recommend Cummins™ Tulips for this purpose. They’re a pretty shade of lavender fringed with white.
Tulip Slawa
Including this multi-coloured wonder-tulip in this blog post is a bit of a cheat, but we can’t resist it! The dark markings on the petals are very near to black in colour, and each Tulip Slawa bloom contains such a fantastic array of colours that you don’t really need to plant it with anything else to get a colourful display.
Allium Forelock
This is a relatively new cultivar, and it’s a wonderful focal point for your flower garden. The tall stems and large blooms ensure that it can never be overlooked. With stems a meter and a half high, Alliums Forelock will tower over almost any garden flower, and you can enjoy watching your guests and passers-by as they do a double take when they glimpse the remarkable flowers.
Back in black:
a few of the commoner varieties you can use
As we’ve noted, the elite cultivars we’ve featured here are extremely unusual. If you’re just looking for black blooms, your choice is even broader. Queen of Night and Black Parrot may be slightly more common tulips, but they’re still extremely striking, and no lover of dramatic deepest shades should ignore the possibilities offered by black Fritillaria persica.
Enjoy your gardening, and feel free to get in touch if you need a spot of advice!
