Tulipa Yellow Mountain - Double Late Tulip

The Double Late Tulip ‘Yellow Mountain’ brightens late spring gardens with its generous habit and romantic silhouette, featuring large, soft yellow flowers with buttery highlights. Forming full corollas with multiple imbricate petals, it evokes a miniature peony on a sturdy, upright stem. Perfect for beds, borders, or containers, it thrives in sun or light shade in well-drained, humus-bearing soil. Hardy and reliable, it dislikes waterlogged soil but offers a sumptuous, prolonged flowering until May, ideal for cut flowers and for enriching mid-season displays.

Belonging to the Liliaceae family and part of the double late group, the Tulip ‘Yellow Mountain’ is an ornamental cultivar most likely derived from Tulipa × gesneriana, the typical parent species rich in cultivars, cultivated in Europe since the 15th century. Originating from multiple cross-breedings, it stands out with its large, full flowers resembling peonies. This cultivar reaches an upright habit of about 45 cm in height in open ground, with rapid spring growth: the stem emerges in March and reaches its full height in 3 to 4 weeks. The abundant flowers with dense double cups of 8–10 cm in diameter, bloom in April–May, featuring a heart of cream-yellow petals edged with brighter highlights, and are highly prized as cut flowers. Their complex structure offers a full texture without a distinct fragrance. The foliage is deciduous, formed of 4 to 6 lanceolate, dark green, 5–7 cm wide and 20–25 cm long leaves. The cylindrical and glabrous stems elegantly support the flowers. The root system consists of a fleshy bulb about 11–12 cm in circumference, producing superficial fasciculate roots that require well-drained soil. Often produced by Dutch growers since the 1990s, this variety has gained popularity in the UK after being featured in selections for receiving the RHS Award of Garden Merit, particularly for its robustness in adverse weather and suitability for bed and container cultivation.

The ‘Yellow Mountain’ tulip unfurls its double corollas with quiet opulence. Planted en masse at the foot of deciduous shrubs or along structured short lawns, it evokes a floral scene of a golden afternoon. It is also imagined in pots, surrounded by foliage variegated with cream-yellow, such as that of Carex 'Evergold', young hostas, or pale pansies, on a terrace. It pairs gracefully with ‘Angelique’ tulips for a soft pink harmony, with ‘Mount Tacoma’ for a fresh white and yellow composition, or with ‘Blue Diamond’, whose deep violet offers a vibrant counterpoint.