where to buy tulip bulbs

As you know by now, tulips are my favorite flower. I love to shop for them, plan my next season garden and then love to see them in the spring.
When they are finished blooming I pull them up. Yes, I pull up and discard each and every one of them, and I have done this for years. There are several reasons I do this:
1) They are never, ever as strong the following year. Half of any planted won’t come up again and if they do they will be shorter and weaker.
2) If left in the ground, you need to let the leaves turn yellow and die off naturally. I don’t like that look! And, more than that, I want to have my garden soil minus any hidden bulbs so I can be free to dig and plant.
3) I get to plan and enjoy a totally new color mix each spring! This is very important to me (and to my neighbors…)

Let’s start with a look at my inner courtyard selection, starring the
Jan Reus tulips.

These tulips are a deep, deep red; in some lights they are almost black, while in other light they appear a true red. This was the first time I had tried them and well….while I liked them, I was not in love with them.