Tulipa sprengeri, Sprenger's Tulip is one of the most desirable of all the species tulips and represents a cautionary tale of the lack of ecological foresight that humans are capable of. It was discovered in Turkey in 1892 and named after Carl Ludwig Sprenger, the brilliant German botanist who was a partner in the Dammann & Co nursery in Naples and who did so much of the early work in hybridising Cannas. The bulbs were subsequently over-collected in their natural habitat and never recovered. It is now extinct in the wild.

Tulipa spengeri has long elegant stems with pure red petals and yellow anthers. It has just one flower per stem and this is always the latest flowering tulip in the season, not flowering in the UK until May. Limited quantities. Highly recommended.