ANNA Pavord, who sits on the parks and gardens panel of English Heritage, has been growing tulips for 40 years and grows about 20 new types each year.

A decade ago, her book The Tulip set a benchmark for biographies of the popular bulb, and the celebrated gardening writer has included the flower again in another informative and beautifully-photographed tome, simply titled Bulb (Mitchell Beazley, £30) While daffodils are best planted in early autumn, tulips suit late October or early November.

The two things they need to thrive are perfect drainage and to be baked in the summer sun.

By growing tulips in pots you can adjust the drainage, making sure containers have drainage holes at the base, a layer of crocks at the bottom and a fast-draining potting mix such as John Innes No 3 mixed with a handful of gravel or grit.

But don’t use composts made with peat because tulips like alkaline conditions, not acid ones.

Sadly, in the UK you can’t provide the summer baking which prompts new flower buds to form deep in the hearts of the bulbs, which is why many tulips don’t flower as well in subsequent years as they do in their first.

Wild varieties tend to be able to put up with lesser conditions than other types.

Pavord says: “By choosing carefully, you can have tulips in bloom outside from February until early June. In a mixed bed or border, you can use tall tulips towards the back of a scheme or at the centre of an island bed, with shorter tulips growing towards the front of the border.”

Pavord loves her tulips in pots.

Again, different heights should be taken into consideration and, as a rule, the tulip should be about the same height as the pot is deep.

She said: “All showy tulips will need a pot which is more than one foot (30cm) high. Smaller wild tulips can be grown in a more panshaped container. Set three pots in a group together, two pots packed full of medium-height tulips arranged in front of those filled with taller types.

“This triangular grouping fits well into a corner, made perhaps where your house wraps around a terrace. In a scree, or some other gravel-covered area, low-growing tulips look best.”

As a rule, tulips should be planted three times deeper than the height of the bulb itself, although gardeners whose soil is heavy or clay may plant more shallowly than those with fastdraining, sandy soil.

Containers should be watered well after planting, and then left until they have almost dried out before watering again. When the tulips are in active growth they’ll need a steady supply of moisture, but don’t waterlog them or the bulbs will rot.

Among Pavord’s favourites are Tulipa orphanidea, a species growing to 21cm (8in) with pointed petals, in shades of yellow, orange or red. She said: “It’s quite short and good for exposed areas, and the colours go from lemon sherbet to soft apricots and oranges. They look good in pots.”

She also favours T linifolia Batalinii Group, an early variety in yellows or oranges which should be grown on their own in pots – nothing should be allowed to overshadow their splendour – or in the ground mixed with wallflowers. These tulips should return each year and increase to make a rich mat.

Pavord also loves lily-flowered tulips such as White Triumphator mixed with forget-me-nots, and Ballerina, an elegant tulip in sunset shades of orange and red which is also sweetly scented with the subtle aroma of primroses.

Of course, no tulip lover could go without their gaudy, gregarious parrot varieties in all their frilly glory and dazzling colours.

Pavord said: “I love Orange Favourite, a zinging orange which is interestingly marked and has scented flowers.”