by Ray Allen

Every fall people want to know.  What are the most popular Dutch Bulbs planted in the US?  Well, the Netherland Flower Bulb Centre, which tracks such things, tells all.  With tulips, the big color is red, as it's always been, and the top sellers are the Darwin Hybrid reds, which means "Oxford" and others. Also always in the Top 10 are "Angelique", the peachy-pink double tulip, "Queen of Night", the almost-black tulip, and the red/yellow bicolors like "Appeldoorn Elite", another Darwin Hybrid.  Daffodils? That's easy, since Americans are still stuck on "King Alfred", the old reliable big yellow daffodil.  It's been improved several times, and the variety called "Dutch Master" is now the top seller.  For some reason, the King Alfred group isn't as popular in other countries as it is here.  Americans may enjoy the new double daffodils, the pink ones or even the miniature species types, but when it comes to the big spring show, here in the US, people still want the classic solid yellow trumpet they know as "King Alfred."