tulips

‘More and more I am coming to the conclusion that rain is a far more important consideration to gardens than sun, and that one of the lesser advantages that a gardener gains in life is his thorough enjoyment of a rainy day!’ Margaret Waterfield, quoted in The Penguin Book of Garden Writing What kind of [...]

I am always looking to cram more color into spring.So when Longfield Gardens offered me the chance to try 25 Mystic Van Eijk tulips and 50 grape hyacinths, I was happy to take them up on it. But we have a lot of voles and chipmunks around here, which love to eat tulips. We also [...]

I have clay soil and several kinds of rodents in my garden, and I'd pretty much given up on growing tulips, but Gardening with Tulips by Michael King is making me reconsider. Not just because of the gorgeous color photos on every page, but because it's filled with specific advice on using tulips as an [...]

Last fall, I planted 150 species tulips. My last words on that post were "it will still look beautiful next spring." Boy, was I wrong. The snowdrops that I had divided came up. At least some of the crocus that I divided came up. And four tulips emerged and bloomed. Four. Out of one hundred [...]

Yesterday I told you how I finally realized species tulips planted in the peony bed would help to bridge the bloom gap of late spring. I got the tulips chosen and purchased, and now I'm going to show you how I planted them. The Smartest Way to Plant 150 Tulip Bulbs But first let's talk [...]

After the snowdrops, after the crocuses, after the daffodils, there is just about nothing blooming in the front of the house until the June show of peonies, irises, and poppies. I have not been the first person to notice this bloom gap, not by a long shot, and the traditional recommendation is to plant tulips [...]