Tulipa Madame Lefeber

Tulip fosteriana Madame Lefeber ('Red Emperor') is a historic variety dating back to 1931, the origin of the entire 'Emperor' tulip series. It is a red tulip, filled with promises and full of life, with very large flared cups, blood-red in the March sun, revealing a black heart. Robust, weather-resistant and undemanding, it will faithfully flower in the garden for several years. It is also a superb cut flower.

Tulipa fosteriana is a very hardy botanical species native to Turkestan. Fosteriana tulips belong to division 13 of tulips, which has 15 divisions. They are reliable, the first garden tulips to flower, sometimes as early as mid-March, and they naturalise easily, so they do not need to be replaced regularly.

Madame Lefeber has won numerous awards and is famous worldwide. This bulb produces sturdy but flexible 35 to 40 cm (14 to 16in) flower stalks, bearing a large cup-shaped, 15 cm (6in) wide corolla, which opens and flares in the sun to reveal a light and powerful red colour with silky reflections. The flower is touched with yellow and green at the base. The deciduous foliage is light green and vibrant.

Fosteriana tulips are suitable for all uses, in flower beds, borders, and even in bouquets for the taller varieties. Their sparkling yet elegant colours go well with blue hyacinths, grape hyacinths, or other white tulips and are unmatched in bringing the colour of spring year after year in pots or in sunny gardens. Remember to consider the height and flowering period when designing your flower beds, as these parameters vary significantly from one cultivar to another. It is a good idea to plant a few more bulbs for cutting beautiful cut flowers that last a long time in a vase.

About botanical species: Tulip species can be found from Western Europe to China and Japan, through Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and Central Asia. Their distribution area also includes North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The centre of diversity of the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan.

There are a few wild species, many of which have become rare. These include large tulips originally from cultivated fields, such as the Agen tulip (Tulipa agenensis), or small tulips found in wooded or mountainous areas. In cultivation, these are called "botanical tulips," and one of the most common is the wild tulip (Tulipa sylvestris), which often used to grow in the shelter of vines and whose subspecies australis is known as the southern tulip.