A border of tulipa clusiana ‘Peppermintstick’ in the walled garden

This will be Polly’s first specialist species tulip day at home in Wiltshire, where we will take an in-depth look into using these most entrancing tulips within a whole range of garden settings.  Species tulips offer a much more sustainable and guilt-free way of growing tulips, because they come back reliably year on year, reducing the need for expensive repeat purchases. Once you have decided which varieties you like best and worked out where they will be happiest you can watch colonies develop over the years. 

During this immersive day you will: 

• Learn about the origins of species tulips, and how they can be ‘wilded’ into your gardens 

• Look at experimenting with species tulips in a range of containers, so you can see which varieties will work for you and your surroundings before you start naturalising them 

• Walk around the garden guided by Polly looking at potential planting sites in herbaceous beds, scattered through grass and in gravel settings 

• Plant your own terracotta pot of species tulips to take home with you at the end of the day 

• There will also be ample opportunity to answer all your tulip related queries, no question is a stupid one! 

Tea, coffee and cakes will  be served on arrival, and we will sit down together for an organic (mostly) home-grown lunch in the middle of the day. 

There will be a range of organic species tulip bulbs for sale, so you can carry on planting in your own garden. 

Event details

Tickets: £225 to include lunch

Bring – wet weather wear, something to keep your terracotta pot upright on the journey home 

Location: Blackland House, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 8UQ

Tulipa ‘Cornuta’ (usually sold as T. acuminata, but recently renamed) naturalised in grass amongst Camassia leichtlinii caerulea