Sunday, April 12, 2009

Tulip Mania

What happens in a garden when several hundred tulips are planted every fall by different people over the course of many years?



A riot of tulips.



Any thought of a color scheme must be abandoned.



At least there are no red tulips directly next to yellow tulips. Some people would find that offensive.



Even with a piss poor memory of what the close to a thousand tulips I have planted in the last two years were color wise and not knowing for sure of all these tulips, which ones I planted, I know there are spotty results with the tulips that actually show up.



There are gaps in the plantings. Some of the tulips just don't do well and don't bloom and some just seem to be missing all together.



There should be way more red tulips in this bed.



So I guess it is a good thing that several hundred tulips have been planted every fall by different people over the course of many years. It makes up for the ones that disappear or wither away.

That is why some people prefer the prolific poisonous daffodils.

7 comments:

Les said...

I prefer the prolific poisonous daffodils. I plant more every late fall when the sales start without little regard to remembering what I already have. The trouble begins when the the digging starts and I run into already planted ones deep in slumber.

Gail said...

I have clown pants in my garden when the tulips bloom! ....Btw, I don't mind red and yellow together. I love Columbine/Aquilegia canadensis. It's yellow and red look splendid together! gail

Carol Michel said...

What? You are supposed to plant red and yellow tulips together? Most of my hybrid tulips make a very poor showing the second year, so I treat them like annuals. However, when some do come back, this makes for some interesting combinations.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Anonymous said...

I have almost completely given up on tulips. (Having deer encourages that attitude). Now, I only buy them for half off or more as late as January from the nurseries, put them in pots, to winter over, and may the devil take the hindmost. I've had surprisingly good luck that way, and BTW, I deliberately plant red with yellow tulips!

bev

Anonymous said...

Don't get me started on tulips, Christopher. Too late. Costco. Pretty picture of pink tulips on an affordable, plump bag. Plant Lust alarm is activated. Months later, (now) they're blooming in shades of purple and--get this--salmon red! Horrid! I want my sweet, demure promised pink ones but NO. So there you have it, my little rant. I love your photos. I bet your display stops traffic.

chuck b. said...

This kind of tulip return is totally unattainable for me in California. I love to see pictures of it tho'.

Thank god there aren't any red daffodils... Can you imagine...?! With the yellow...I would die. DIE. Ugh!

Do you have green tulips? I'm not sure I would go there...but I can see the fun of having the green rose.

lola said...

Tulips--any color--anytime. Love them.