Sunday, May 5, 2013

Tulips!

Last year I decided that I didn't want to be schlepping heavy pots with tender plants into the garage every winter; it was time to simplify. So I ordered an assortment of tulips from John Scheepers in Connecticut. They are a great bulb company, I highly recommend them. After the bulbs arrived last fall, I planted 2 varieties outside and filled 4 big pots with the rest of the bulbs. This was my first experience with tulips and I think it turned out pretty well - it's a big relief to just leave the pots where they are. As a bonus, the deer have left them alone as well!

The first tulips to emerge were 'Orange Emperors' which I planted in a grouping in the ground, surrounded by Muscari armeniacum'Christmas Pearl'. The centerpiece is a red-twig dogwood, Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'. It's puny now but in a few years it will shine (click on images to enlarge).


Fully opened ~

The first pot to bloom contained Princely Single Early Mixture ~

Peony tulips 'Mt. Tacoma' & 'Black Hero' ~

Here are 'China Town' tulips, planted in the middle of 3 Sambucus ~

Closeup ~

These are parrot tulips; I was hoping they would all bloom at once but the 'Rococo' come out first and the 'Black Parrots' last. Still worth the wait ~

'Flaming Parrot' closeup ~

More gorgeous peony tulips 'Orange Princess' & 'Blue Spectacle' ~

I think this closeup of 'Orange Princess' captures the beauty of the blossom ~

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, if any TCKT friends are ever in our neck of the woods, please stop by for a visit...

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12 comments:

  1. FayMay 5, 2013 at 7:22 PM

    Thank you florrie, I love your gardening posts. The tulips are beautiful. Will they flower every year? Do you just cut them back when they are over and leave the pots outside all winter?

    ReplyDelete
  2. FayMay 5, 2013 at 7:24 PM

    The peony tulips are my favourite followed by "China Town."

    Your post has made me very happy :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. lady redMay 5, 2013 at 8:17 PM

    Oh florrie, they are spectacular! I'm intrigued by the "Flaming Parrot", and the Orange Princess" blooms are beautiful!

    Thank you so much! I'm very happy too! :)

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  4. lewy14May 6, 2013 at 1:33 AM

    And Now... in a historic collaboration between two indie film titans... Quentin Tarinteno and Ang Lee present:

    Orange Princess, Flaming Parrot. In 3D.

    (Awesome flowers, florrie! I think Orange Princess is my favorite, actually. Forwarding this to Mrs Lewy.)

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  5. floranistaMay 6, 2013 at 2:39 AM

    A big thanks to lewy for helping me understand how to format pictures with text (and for fixing my post)! It won't take me hours to do one now.

    Thank you all so much for the nice comments. Gardening is truly my passion, every aspect of it.

    Fay, they do flower every year. I crowded them in the pots because I didn't want to wait for them to multiply. All I have to do is cut off the heads when they are done blooming so they don't expend energy putting out seed. The leaves stay until they wither away because they "feed" the bulb. They are very low maintenance, I just add some bulb food when they start to emerge. The winter freeze is actually good for the bulbs, the Scheepers people told me this but I can't remember why exactly - so I don't have to move them, yay!

    It feels good to simplify and Tom thinks the tulips look great as well :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dances With TyposMay 6, 2013 at 9:05 AM

    Spent a few hours with my sister, yesterday, going to greenhouses, garden centers, etc. buying 6-packs (not THAT kind) for planting in her flower beds.

    Then I came inside, out of the pollen-laden air because of watering eyes and sneezing.

    I will attempt some pictures later, if I can figure out how to put them in here.

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  7. Girl on the SceneMay 6, 2013 at 12:06 PM

    Those are so absolutely gorgeous! Just gorgeous!

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  8. annieMay 6, 2013 at 12:26 PM

    What a beautiful post florrie! I love tulips but they're not very common here. We mostly see them as cut flowers. I've seen big beds of tulips in Jerusalem which were a a gift from the people of Holland and they're just fabulous. (The photos at the link are stunning)..

    I love all the tulips that you've shown here, but I think my favourite is the red parrot one. But they're all gorgeous.

    I wish I had green fingers like you. As it is, plants just look at me and they keel over and die. :p

    ReplyDelete
  9. floranistaMay 6, 2013 at 12:49 PM

    Thanks, GotS and annie!

    Now, now, BOTH of you would have green fingers if you weren't so busy. That's the first requirement, lots of time to spend on it (and I'm able and happy to do so ;-).

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  10. FayMay 6, 2013 at 6:55 PM

    Thanks for thr tulip tips florrie!

    ReplyDelete
  11. RadioMattMMay 8, 2013 at 8:34 PM

    Florrie picture time!!!! Love it, love it LOVE IT!

    ReplyDelete
  12. floranistaMay 9, 2013 at 1:35 PM

    Thank you, Matt!

    ReplyDelete

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