Wednesday, April 6, 2016

The Diversity of Tulips. . . . . . .





The beautiful parrot tulips have 'flown', I knew they would not stay 
forever. The wildflowers are still holding their own though and with a quick trim
and fresh water they were ready for new blooms, this time from the garden.


A spray of my favorite George L. Taber azalea for height, and a bunch of
 creamy pink and rose voluptuous double or peony tulips, bulbs purchased from
 Costco and planted last Winter. There are so many tulips to choose from and
have to say Costco's prices were quite remarkable for fancy ones such as these.
I used to always order from catalogs and spent a small fortune - these were not
 expensive. Some are in pots gracing the walkway to the front steps, others are
 in a raised bed along with daffodils and bluebells. I cut just five as I do like to
see them growing in the garden.



 Tulips are stunning flowers. For many, many years I've always planted traditional
 standard one color tulips, usually the late blooming tall Darwin, Cottage or
 Mayflowering - although they bloom in April here in the southeast.
  Many shades of pink, golden yellow and the darkest purple 'Queen of the Night'
 were favorites, always gorgeous and perfect for cutting, their tall stems being
 sturdy and resistant to Spring storms. Sadly tulips are not perennial in my
 area, Summers being much too hot, humid and dry. Now and then they will pop
 up the following year but are never as beautiful as in that first bloom year.

Do you have a favorite tulip?
Do you grow them in your garden, or perhaps in pots? 

12 comments:

  1. Mary, I am just so envious of your gardening skills. Those flowers are all so beautiful.

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  2. These are gorgeous. I must watch at Costco because just today I was thinking I would like to plant more tulips this fall. We bought several bags of them the last time in Amsterdam and they returned to there original red and yellow, or the squirrels dug them up and ate them. Our daffodils do much better in the garden, but I am ready to try some of these beauties.

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  3. Your tulips are so beautiful, Mary, with their ruffled and many-layered petals. I've stuck with the standard tulips, but this past year I planted some ruffly ones (can't remember their name) and I'm hooked. I'll be looking for more of them for next year. Your bouquet must be eye-catching in whatever room it's in.

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  4. Your tulips are stunning. At first I thought they couldn't possibly be real. We don't have Costco nearby, but I'm going to check out BJs and Sam's Club. I usually don't plant them for the reasons you stated. I had one red one pop up this year from bulbs planted a few years ago.

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  5. I actually have Queen of the Night, one of the first varieties I ever planted. My tulips do very well with the cold winters we normally have but a few years ago it was quite mild and many of my bulbs didn't sprout or they did and were very only shaped. This was another mild winter so I have my fingers crossed!

    Did you plant your wildflowers from seed? I have a package of them and an area that I simply don't use and I wanted them for cutting only.

    I'm enjoying spring so far, I know the best is yet to come!

    Love and hugs, Mary!

    Jane

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  6. How fortunate you are to have your tulips out already to enjoy. Ours will not be up for some time (Northern Ohio). Yes, I do buy tulips and other bulbs from Costco. Those we've bought in the past have been sturdy and great performers. This year, we cleared a small area to plant ONLY tulips, and some are from Costco, others from nurseries and online ordering sources. I am quite looking forward to ours coming up, and there will be a few parrot varieties among them. Yours are so very beautiful!

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  7. Your tulips are exquisite, Mary. I enjoyed seeing these so much. Thank you for sharing them.

    I love all your posts. Your blog style fits me perfectly.

    Barbie

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  8. I'd have to choose the ruffled, rose and peony-like tulips. They are beautiful. I didn't get a single tulip planted last fall, planting having been a casualty of all that was going on. Luckily there are plantings all over the neighbourhood and buckets of cut tulips in the corner grocers. I get my fill of their beauty!

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  9. As you said, the parrots were the first t go, but the others waited for my return to the city. They look beautiful. I turned on my sprinkler system and have no idea whether or not or how to work it. Oh.........

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  10. Your tulips are gorgeous. In my experience as an in-the-city patio gardener, early on I planted a few of the double Angelique tulips along the patio fence. They were lovely, but I find I don't like the tulip upkeep, i.e., either digging them up for replanting or other measures. I do have a few perennials on my patio, but they are ones that do not require much upkeep and are easy to keep to a manageable size.
    Other patio activity this morning: a lot of nesting activity--bluebirds are beginning a nest in patio bluebird house, and a cardinal was seen nabbing a strands of the wirey coir liner from one of my hanging baskets to go in its nest in a tree or shrub nearby.

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  11. So pretty the frilly tulips. I planted some last year called Parrot tulips they are just about ready to come into bloom in my garden . I meant to buy some more but forgot . I must make a 'to do 'gardening list.

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  12. "Mary, Mary (I doubt) quite contrary, how does your garden grow?" Oh my goodness, how beautiful. My favorite flower next to the daisy.

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