Here's another shot of the Texas Flame parrot tulip. They really look fabulous this year.
A new flower this year is the fern peony I got several years ago from a fan of my garden. Her daughter showed up on my doorstep one day with a package. "My mom loves your garden and wanted you to have this." I unwrapped the package looked at the gnarled little root with a little ferny green poking out of one end and gushed, "Ohh! I always wanted one of these!" It took all these years of very slow growth to finally get a flower out of it, but my, what a flower it is!
That fern peony matches well with these Bastogne's Parrot tulips I got from Menards. These ended up being my favorite tulips buy from last fall. They had a rich, deep red, velvety look to them. The darkest red of my of my tulips (this picture just doesn't do them justice - oh, and they are mixed heights, nice). The one's that I had the most hope for - Elegant Lady lily tulip - eh, not so much. They were pretty, but didn't really look like the package. They were just pink edged tulips, and not even much lily.
Now THIS is a lily tulip! It is Aladdin. I only have one left, and this is it's second home. I originally had them in the center berm, but that berm eats tulips - I figured out too late for this tulip's companions. I am on the look out for more of these.
I finally got World Expression tulips last fall after a couple years of out-of-stock postcards from Brecks. Although they aren't exactly what I had expected, they matched well with the Flaming parrot tulips I had got from Menards the year before. In fact, these look exactly like the non-parrot version of Flaming. (they are very tall, so if you get them, plant to the back)
I'm not huge fan of crab apples because when I was a kid, we had two HUGE crab apple trees in our yard and they made a HUGE mess! But this crab apple, Pink Spires, has big blooms and practically no fruit. Win-win.
I saw these Thalia narcissus on another blogger's site last spring and decided that I must have them. They are multi bloomers. A definite must have.
Even the strawberry flowers are interesting. They are really big this year and quite a few of them have a dark center.
That bulb experiment from last fall worked out fairly well. Almost all the bulbs survived, and most of those produced a decent bloom. I was able to group the similar tulips together and find the perfect spots for them in the garden. I will probably use this technique for other mixed tulips packs in the future.
Here's another shot of the Texas Flame parrot tulip. They really look fabulous this year.
A new flower this year is the fern peony I got several years ago from a fan of my garden. Her daughter showed up on my doorstep one day with a package. "My mom loves your garden and wanted you to have this." I unwrapped the package looked at the gnarled little root with a little ferny green poking out of one end and gushed, "Ohh! I always wanted one of these!" It took all these years of very slow growth to finally get a flower out of it, but my, what a flower it is!
That fern peony matches well with these Bastogne's Parrot tulips I got from Menards. These ended up being my favorite tulips buy from last fall. They had a rich, deep red, velvety look to them. The darkest red of my of my tulips (this picture just doesn't do them justice - oh, and they are mixed heights, nice). The one's that I had the most hope for - Elegant Lady lily tulip - eh, not so much. They were pretty, but didn't really look like the package. They were just pink edged tulips, and not even much lily.
Now THIS is a lily tulip! It is Aladdin. I only have one left, and this is it's second home. I originally had them in the center berm, but that berm eats tulips - I figured out too late for this tulip's companions. I am on the look out for more of these.
I finally got World Expression tulips last fall after a couple years of out-of-stock postcards from Brecks. Although they aren't exactly what I had expected, they matched well with the Flaming parrot tulips I had got from Menards the year before. In fact, these look exactly like the non-parrot version of Flaming. (they are very tall, so if you get them, plant to the back)
I'm not huge fan of crab apples because when I was a kid, we had two HUGE crab apple trees in our yard and they made a HUGE mess! But this crab apple, Pink Spires, has big blooms and practically no fruit. Win-win.
I saw these Thalia narcissus on another blogger's site last spring and decided that I must have them. They are multi bloomers. A definite must have.
Even the strawberry flowers are interesting. They are really big this year and quite a few of them have a dark center.
That bulb experiment from last fall worked out fairly well. Almost all the bulbs survived, and most of those produced a decent bloom. I was able to group the similar tulips together and find the perfect spots for them in the garden. I will probably use this technique for other mixed tulips packs in the future.
6 comments:
Did you plant the mixed tulips in pots, wait for them to bloom, and then plant them as colour groups? That's a good idea. I like the World Expressions tulips, and they go well with your red and white themed bulbs. Aladdin really has flair. It reminds me of the stylized pictures of tulips you see in antique tapestries and paintings.
Northern Shade, I did. I only did one bag of mixed tulips, all the other tulips I bought last fall I planted straight into the garden; but I might try this technique on a grander scale this fall. Especially with mixed tulip bags.
What a great idea, Sylvana. Did you just leave the pots out all winter or sink them in the ground?
Those World Expression tulips are beautiful.
Zoey, I planted them in the pots and surrounded the pots with finished compost. Then I covered them with a layer of cayenne pepper and leaves to deter the squirrels. This actually worked out quite nice. I will be doing this again this fall.
Went back and read the original post. I am changing my garden all the time and might just do this so I have somewhere to put my bulbs when they are done! Also the cayenne pepper is a good idea. :) Thanks!
Pumpkin Patch Quilter, I have to say that I was surprised that the pot technique worked as well as it did. I am so looking forward to this spring! :)
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