'Apricot Parrot' Tulip

I'm here in our tulip trial. We're going to talk about some parrot tulip varieties. These are varieties that are characterized by a feathered or scalloped petal edge and an open, loose bloom form. They can have a little bit of a wild look depending on the colors and how the bloom unfolds.

This variety in front of me is 'Apricot Parrot'. This is an interesting one, just the way that the colors develop; the buds are mostly green, but you'll start to see a little bit of cream and then a little bit of pink and orange on the edges. As they continue to mature and open up, they show a lot of different colors at the center of the blooms.

That's one of the things that makes this variety exceptional, is just the range of colors represented here. There's still that green and ivory and cream on the outer petal edges and then a bright pink and orange and a glowing gold at the center. There's a lot going on here with these, and they're even more interesting as the blooms continue to open.

This is a taller variety for a parrot tulip. Nice, long stems. But I would say that is also with this variety one of the challenges and they're not the sturdiest stems. They can they have a little bit of movement to them. It's probably ideal to harvest them when they're at a little bit of a more closed stage and the stems are a little bit more upright. But this is definitely a variety that will give you movement in a vase or an arrangement, if that's what you're looking for.