The greigii tulips up by the shed came first, but I don't think I'll be planting that kind again. The flower heads are just too big for the height of the tulip so they look a little awkward when they are the only flower in the bed. At around the same time we were astonished by the appearance of a big clump of White Triumphator or Purissima (check this) next to the new willow arbour in the new garden. They must have been buried there when I removed the old playhouse and added whatever compost came to hand--pots that needed emptying-- to bring up the level of the soil. In that cool shady sheltered spot they kept going for a month.
Our week of summer in March brought everything on rather quickly, then winter came back (and stayed) in the first week of April. Two days of a Force 9 easterly shredded the new leaves right off the roses and challenged tulip India growing in the bed by the white lilac. From the kitchen table we watched the flowers bending in the wind, the stems nearly horizontal. Amazingly, when the storm ended, there were still flowers there, and they gradually stood up straight again, no harm done at all. Now, at the end of April, another easterly is blowing and the flowers, now faded to pink with white edges, still look well. Note for autumn 2012: plant more tulips in this bed. Note for now: feed the foliage and hope India might pop up again. Another note: in this relatively sunny and not at all sheltered spot, they are still going after nearly a month.
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| Ballerina, Moneymaker and China Pink lily-flowered tulips |
I planted a mixture of small species tulips in a big pot and they did very well. I'll try to keep that pot going for next year. Possibly add some muscari? The muscari planted in the north border of the conservatory garden among the tulips look very well. The intensity of the blue works well with tulips. The Jan Reus tulips there, very dark red, have performed well, but they would show up better in a brighter spot. Tulip Princess Irene is just showing colour in this bed and up by the shed. Up by the shed the tall lily-flowered red, pink and orange tulips are the fairest of them all. And that is saying a lot.
