06 February 2009

A Little Gratuitous Garden Porn

Okay, we're six days into February, which means we're more than halfway through winter. Let's have a look on what I see out my back (deck) doors, shall we? 

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Yes, there is snow drifted up PAST the doorknob now. I stress that this is drifted, not complete snowfall. Overall, we're guessing that there's somewhere around 3 feet in snowfall accumulation in the past several weeks. In some places it's much deeper than that, such as around the back door. So I decided that it was time for a little winter-denial, or winter escape, at least temporarily. 

I love tulips. Absolutely love them provided they're planted in drifts or clusters, rather than straight lines. Like my colours more or less together, rather than speckled here and there. 

One of my favourite types of tulips are the viridifloras, those with green among the colours in the petals. This is 'Greenland'. 

The fringed tulips make me very happy, but I'm not entirely sure which one this is. Sometimes they come back for a couple of years, and sometimes they simple suffer from Lost Label syndrome. 

Not only do the big showy tulips float my boat, I love the species tulips, which are smaller, less showy, hardier, and inclined to multiply over years. I planted these Tulipa tarda bulbs years ago, and they come up every spring, regular as clockwork. 

If my notes are correct, this fringed tulip is 'Carousel', but I have been trying to confirm that with minimal success. I love the delicate fringing on the edges, the flames of red along the creamy-yellow petals. 

The double or peony-flowered tulip 'Uncle Tom' is one of the darkest purple-red (even with sun shining on it). 

Most of the reason I'm so fond of tulips has to do with the way their petals react with light, but I also love their orderly colourful selves. I tend to go for the jewel-hued tulips rather than too many pastel types, and to shun the red-and-yellow mixes that you see sold cheaply at discount stores and from catalogues aiming to make a quick buck. 

These behaved very strangely last year. This is 'Jackpot', an ordinary tulip (I thought), chosen for its deep purple petals edged in white. Instead of getting a dozen flowers from a dozen bulbs, we ended up with somewhere around two dozen or more flowers, in all sizes from crocus to regular tulip blossom size. I have no idea what happened. Since most tulips tend to be annual here (with the exception of some Triumphs, Darwins, and the species tulips), I don't know whether we'll see any of these this spring or not. It was definitely a strange occurrence. 

See what I mean? Have you ever had something like this happen?

Even when they are done, tulips have their own beauty in their exhausted petals. This is the remains of 'Apricot Parrot', I believe, one of my very favourite tulips of all time. Its flowers go through most of the spectrum of the rainbow, with green, gold, apricot pink and even hints of red in the petals as the flower matures. In our garden, tulips begin in early May, but the coolness of our springs means that we routinely have them still blooming into early summer: as in the middle of June. That seems like a long way from now, but the good thing is, I'll get to enjoy most of YOUR tulips via your blogs between now and then. We'll make it through!

21 comments:

  1. Hi Jodi, how very wonderful, are they all from your garden? This 'Greenland'I just have to get, is it a late bloomer? The 'Apricot parrot' is fantastic too. I have seen it at Keukenhof and it was just gorgeous. This is what a call good porn Jodi, thank you so much.

    Have a great weekend/ xoxoTyra

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  2. The cold and varmints take a heavy toll on Tulips here and I consider them annuals too. I quit planting them years ago.

    Thank goodness for blogs - I can at least enjoy them vicariously.

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  3. It won't be long now and we'll all actually have tulips blooming-though you must get rid of all that snow first. Unreal!

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  4. Nothing says "spring!" like tulips, and you've got some beauties. Can't wait to see pics of them in bloom -- seems an eternity away, doesn't it?

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  5. Jodi,
    I envy you your tulips but not all that snow! I cannot believe my eyes seeing the drift so high against your door...gives me chills just to look at it.

    Your cats are so cool...that Nippa is a charmer...what interesting color eyes!

    Jon at Mississippi Garden

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  6. You grow many favorites, jodi, especially my faithful friend, Tulipa tarda, planted many years ago and a welcome sigh of spring. As much as I HATE planting bulbs (treat as annuals here also) in the fall, each spring I rejoice and pat myself on the back.

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  7. I'm not a huge lover of tulips, but I grow several here. I've not had a problem with any of them coming back, but it's been a few years since they've been planted, so maybe some of them won't return this year. I hope that's not the case, but we'll see.

    Those 'Jackpot' tulips are gorgeous! I do enjoy the fringed tulips and I have a pink one that gives me great joy each spring.

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  8. These pictures do get the blood stirring. I can't wait to see some in person.

    The snow will melt here this weekend. It is to get quite warm.

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  9. Wow, that's alotta snow Jodi! What gorgeous tulips! All that vibrant garden porn makes the heart skip a beat in hungry anticipation of spring.

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  10. What a beautiful variety of tulips you have. That is A LOT of snow!

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  11. You hit the jackpot with 'Jackpot.' I love it. I planted a Costco-sized bag of pink tulips last fall. I'll post a picture when they bloom.

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  12. Such beautiful tulips Jodi! I don't grow tulips, with so many deer nearby they'd just eat them all! And the tulip-porn made me forget all about that huge snowdrift. *shudder*

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  13. Great tulip porn--and appropriate because tulips will be here soon. Yes.

    Now, you say these are mainly annual, so i assume you go through a similar big bulb planting as I do every fall. Though I have a lot of species.

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  14. What a beautiful sight for our winter weary eyes! We too, have snow up to our chins and it doesn't look as though there is any end in sight. Spring cannot come soon enough!

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  15. How could I miss this post? 3 feet of snow?! We had one foot and I thought it was a lot! How naive ...
    Your tulips are unbelievable! Somehow I'm afraid to grow them. I might change my mind looking at yours... Thank you!

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  16. OH my that is a LOT of snow! I'm glad you have your beutiful pictures to keep you warm! Kim

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  17. That IS a lot of snow. I felt a sort of schadenfreude.

    I've had Tulipa tarda and 'Jackpot' on my list for years. Your pictures are convincing me to move them up a little (my initial fall-planted bulb lists are hundreds of items long, and thousands of dollars. Talk about porn).

    There are types of tulips which are more likely to go perennial than others. The species tulips like T. tarda are good candidates (though not all of them work). T. fosteriana 'Purissma' and T. clusiana 'Lady Jane' are other likely choices.

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  18. Jodi - I too love tulips in all their shapes and colors. I am living in denial of seasons now with some silk ones on my dining room table. Yes, I have had some tiny tulips, but they were year #2 or 3 Triumph tulips which I think were just immature bulbs or bulbs that did not perform well in their later years.

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  19. Hmmm. Knob high. I will no longer complain about our knee-high snow.

    At least it's all melting now. Good luck with the flooding.

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  20. Now this is some porn I could actually sit and watch with my 12 yr old son--what a concept:)

    Gorgeous, is all I can say. Now I wish I had planted tulips in the fall. Last spring, only a handful of mine came up. Most were eaten by critters, I think. I'm going to take note of some of yours for next fall's wish list.

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  21. Okay, I'll try not to whine about winter again - after seeing that lovely snowdrift up against your door! Nice to see the tulips though, tulips of the past - and love the species tulips, they are my favorites for sure. I'm also glad that you mention fading tulips - I find them as fascinating as the full bloom, they fade wondefully!

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