Plant Apricot Beauty in early fall before soil freezes

In the last winter of World War II, the winter of 1944-45, the people of Amsterdam were starving. It was hell. Then hell froze over: during the bitter frozen weather, there was no fuel. But they did have tulip bulbs. So the Dutch ate tulips!

Tulip bulbs have a high starch content, natural vitamins and minerals. They said the cooked tulip bulbs tasted like potatoes.

They may taste like potatoes, but some tulips are not only nice to look at but they smell great.

Possibly the most fragrant of all is Apricot Beauty, a Single Early tulip, soft salmon with apricot edges. Inside, the apricot is set off by a green star at the inside base of the flower. Apricot Beauty blooms early in the tulip season atop 14- to 16-inch stems. But it is the rich fragrance of Apricot Beauty that sets it apart from other tulips. A bouquet of these tulips will perfume a whole room. This variety is also easy to grow in pots and force into blooming indoors.

For a full display, never plant tulips in a single row but plant the bulbs in groups of at least 10 or 15. The more the better.

Tulips grow best in full sun or dappled light shade. The key is soil that drains well, such as sandy soil mixed with compost. A soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 is perfect but they can tolerate a bit above and below those pH numbers.

Never let the bulbs dry out before planting. Set them out of the sun in a cool basement or porch, below 65 degrees.

Plant Apricot Beauty from early fall right up until about a month before your soil freezes. Plant the bulbs eight to 10 inches deep, five to six inches apart. If you do pot some Apricot Beauty tulips they will take about 16 weeks to grow and bloom indoors. 

For a spectacular look, plant Forget-Me-Nots in among the tulips. The blue and white flowers lend an airy touch to the taller tulips. 

After the tulips are done blooming, you can pull them up and replant with fresh bulbs in the fall or try to hold them over for another season. The second year's flowers can be a bit disappointing but you may have luck. Cut off the dead flowers right away so the tulip doesn't form seeds. This preserves more nutrients for the bulb and next year’s flowers.

Let the leaves dry and turn yellow before cutting them. Never water your tulips during the summer because they prefer warm, dry summers to rest before winter.

Always keep them free of weeds. Mulch can help; just rake it back in early spring so the soil can warm up.

When the first shoots emerge in early spring you can fertilize with a good organic bulb food, or bone meal and compost.Try planting an entire bed of fragrant Apricot Beauty. Or two beds - one for display and one for cutting. Or both beds for eating during a Nazi occupation. History can repeat itself.