Tulip 'Nachtwacht'

Gaze in wonder as these sumptuous dark peony-flowered tulips unfurl each spring, Tulip 'Nachtwacht' (or Night Watch) heavily-petalled flowers catching the dew each morning which glistens like stars in the night sky! Tulip 'Nachtwacht' thanks it name to the world famous painting of Rembrandt which you can adore in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Call us in the spring and we will show you the double-flowering Tulip Nachtwacht – a true piece of art – in our exhibition garden at Keukenhof Gardens.

Opening from tightly-packed buds, they emerge slowly, providing a long season of interest as they do. The blooms are rounded like pompons, heralded by the stately stems which reach up to 60cm tall. These versatile beauties sit well in any kind of planting scheme, with their upright structure and dark colour adding contrast to mixed borders, containers or shrubberies. Plant Tulip 'Nachtwacht' in large swathes running through the border among other flowering plants for a classic cottage-style look, or dot them through shrubberies or among architectural plants to provide that important streak of early-season excitement in contemporary gardens.

Tulips do well in most sunny locations, but can also tolerate light shade. Flowering in late spring, they provide that all important hit of colour that bridges the gap between spring and summer. With long, straight stems, they make wonderful cut flowers too. Heavily clustered varieties, such as Tulip ‘Nachtwacht’ (Night Watch), open slowly which gives them a particularly good vase life.