Tulipa praestans Shogun

The botanical tulip Tulipa praestans 'Shogun' has a rare colour, evoking a setting sun or the ochres of a desert. Each pale yellow bud, in the shape of a closed calyx, opens into a delicate, pale orange star, enhanced by a slightly brighter orange heart adorned with violet stamens that carry six small black commas. The flowers appear in the middle of spring, open under the sun and close when it hides, on a beautiful apple green foliage, vividly edged with red. It is an easy tulip to grow, which often naturalises in most gardens, tirelessly blooming year after year, in flower beds and planters.

The botanical Tulip praestans 'Shogun' belongs to the family of Liliaceae. The species Tulipa praestans is native to Central Asia, where it grows at high altitudes on slopes and in rocky scree, up to the clear undergrowth of the southern Pamir Alai. It has given rise to numerous cultivars including 'Shogun'. This medium-sized tulip will not exceed 35 to 40 cm (14 to 16in) in height when flowering. Its foliage is light green, vibrant, quite wide, finely edged with red. The flowers appear in April-May, grouped in 2 to 3 on each stem, earlier or later depending on the climate. They have a soft and nuanced, complex orange color, which could be described as lunar because it does not clash with the eye. The flowers open widely into 10 to 12 cm (4 to 5in) diameter stars, revealing a vibrant orange heart stamped with black, populated by 6 beautiful violet stamens. This tulip naturalises easily by producing bulblets, in light and well-drained soil.

Botanical tulips do not degenerate over time like large-flowered tulips. They naturalise and can remain in place for several years without special maintenance, and thrive in borders and rockeries. To create colourful scenes, they can be combined with various small bulb plants: Crocus, Allium moly, Ipheion uniflorum, Anemone blanda, small-flowered Narcissus, Muscari, Puschkinia, Cyclamen coum, Erythronium pagoda, Leucojum vernum, Snowdrops, Scilla sibirica etc. These tulips are unmatched in bringing the colours of spring to pots or sunny gardens.

Tulip species are found from Western Europe to China and Japan, through Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and Central Asia. Their distribution range also includes North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The centre of diversity for the genus is located in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

In Europe, there are various wild species, many of which are endangered. These are either large adventive tulips from crops, the most well-known being the Agen Tulip (Tulipa agenensis), or small tulips found in wooded areas or among rocks in the mountains. In cultivation, they are called botanical tulips, and one of the most common is the wild tulip (Tulipa sylvestris), which used to often grow sheltered by vines and whose subspecies australis is known as the southern tulip.