A decade ago, Anna Pavord’s 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 tome, Bulb (Mitchell Beazley, £30).

Anna has been growing tulips for 40 years and grows around 20 new types each year.

“One thing that strikes me is how brilliant wild tulips are. They are increasingly available through bulb companies and garden centres. Wild types are much smaller than we are used to, and are not only beautiful but are much more likely to stay than other types.”

While daffodils are best planted in early autumn, tulips suit late October or early November.

“The two things tulips need to thrive are perfect drainage and to be baked in the summer sun,” Anna explains.

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.

“Do not use composts made with peat,” Anna advises. “Tulips like alkaline conditions, not acid ones.”

However, in the UK you can’t provide the summer baking which prompts new flower buds to form in the heart of the bulbs, which is why many don’t flower as well in subsequent years.

The wild varieties tend to be able to put up with lesser conditions than other types, Pavord observes.

“By choosing carefully, you can have tulips in bloom outside from February until early June. In a mixed bed or border, 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,” she says.

Anna loves her tulips in pots. Again, different heights should be taken into consideration and, as a rule, the tulip should be around the same height as the pot is deep.

“All showy tulips will need a pot which is more than one foot high. Smaller wild tulips can be grown in a more pan-shaped container,” she says.

“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.

“In a scree, or some other gravel-covered area, low-growing tulips look best.”

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 fast-draining, sandy soil.

Containers should be watered well after planting, then left until they’ve 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.