These gorgeous spring blooms are always a highlight in the garden or on the balcony. But if you really want to make them pop, the secret is all about finding the perfect companions! The same goes for your indoor arrangements—tulips aren’t exactly “loners.” Pairing them with the right flowers can take a simple bouquet and turn it into a total showstopper.
The Best Neighbors for Your Flower Beds
Depending on the variety, tulips can start showing off as early as late March. These early birds are usually small wild tulips, which look their absolute best when planted in big, cozy clusters. If you coordinate the colors just right, you’ll have a spring bed that’s a total head-turner.
For the varieties that bloom a bit later, you can mix in other spring bulbs. Some of my favorite pairings include:
- Daffodils (double or single, in classic yellow or white)
- Blue Grape Hyacinths (Muscari)
- Colorful Anemones
- Glory-of-the-Snow (those delicate blue star-shaped beauties)
- Striped Squill (Puschkinia), which looks like a tiny hyacinth
- Summer Snowflake (Leucojum), a cousin to the Snowdrop
- Crocuses
- Snowdrops
Perennials as Partners
Early-blooming perennials or those with decorative new foliage are also fantastic for making your tulips stand out. Try planting them alongside:
- Geraniums (Cranesbill)
- Coral Bells (Heuchera)
- Astilbe
- Hostas (with their gorgeous solid or variegated leaves)
- Peonies
- Daylilies
- Oregon Grape (Mahonia)
- Boxwood
Mixing and Matching Tulips
Of course, you can always pair tulips with… more tulips! The trick here is to choose varieties with overlapping bloom times so your garden stays lush for as long as possible. When it comes to colors and shapes, the sky’s the limit, and you can even use different types to set a specific “mood.” For example, Lily-flowered tulips look incredibly elegant in bold colors. Parrot and Rembrandt tulips give off a cool vintage vibe, while green-streaked Viridiflora tulips feel wonderfully romantic.
Perfect Partners for the Vase
A big bunch of tulips is a classic centerpiece, but it really comes to life when you add other cut flowers, flowering branches, or ornamental grasses. Here’s a recipe for a foolproof bouquet:
- Seven tulips
- One or two stems of Asparagus Fern (for that delicate, airy filler look)
- Eucalyptus stems (that silvery-green goes with literally every tulip color)
- A few stems of huckleberry greens or even an apple blossom branch for structure
- Sea Lavender (Statice)—it’s long-lasting and the soft colors provide a great contrast to bold tulips
One quick pro-tip: Keep daffodils out of your tulip vase! Daffodil stems secrete a sap that clogs the “veins” of the tulip stems, which will make your beautiful tulips wilt way faster than they should.
