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Tulip Mad or Mania a Tulip Miscellany

Tulip Mad or Mania a Tulip Miscellany

lily-tulip2

At times I think I have had ‘ Tulip Mania’ this Spring with the number of Tulip posts and pictures I have produced. This year has been an exceptional year and the Tulips in my garden have gone mad themselves with the showy flowers and seemingly infinate variety. The weather must have been kind and clement, the same as the gardener.

This Lily  Flowered Tulip is called ‘Queen of Sheba’ and was bought from Parkers 3 years ago. Some of the stock has been lost but I do not dig them up and store them as they are grown just for use as cut flowers.

I am going to dig up the large pots of tulips I planted in the border last November and allow them to die back naturally. The buried pot method helped to contain and frame the tulips and I think it was a success. I will be interested to see if there was enough nutrients available to help get new flowers for next Spring or have I starved them into submission.

Other Lily Tulips I Like

  • China Pink a uniform flower with a white base and pink petals.
  • Ballerina the best orange I have seen
  • White Triumphator with reflexing petals
  • For showy I have been recommended Marylin 9white with red stripe) and Ballade looking like Vimto (purple with a white froth)

It looks like I have blown it for a good while now, or at least until I start thumbing through the bulb catalogues for next year.

blown-it

Variety is the Spice of Tulips

    There are tulips of many varieties and families to suit all occasions. Early, mid season and late flowering types are available such as Triumph, Darwin Hybrids, Lily flowered and Fosteriana hybrids but below are some special types or forms worth consideration.

    • Crispa the fringed Tulips look like they sound with lace like fringes on the petals. Try ‘Blue Heron’ (really a two tone purple) or the shorter, white ‘Swans Wings’
    • Parrot Tulips have deeply feathered, curled, or twisted, single or multi-coloured petals. Many varieties have a green spot at the base of their petals. Some Parrot tulips are sensitive to poor weather and should be planted in a protected spot.
    • Multi-flowered tulips are gaining in popularity with 3 -6 flowers on each stem. The bi-colours ‘Spectabile’ and ‘Georgette’ appeal to me.
    • Double Paeony Flowered tulips are on my list for next spring. I will put half in a cold greenhouse for cutting and use the rest for bedding. ‘Miranda’ a double Darwin hybrid will be on the list with one of the Dutch bi-colours.
    • Green petaled Viriflora tulips have vertical stripes of green on the petals that are otherwise coloured reds and yellows. ‘Esperanto’ a red with green also has striking white edged leaves.
    • Triumph Tulips produce cup-shaped flowers on strong, medium-length stems. Average plant height is 10 to 16 inches. This is the largest class of tulips and offers the widest range of flower colors. Triumph tulips are excellent for forcing.
    Botanical Tulips and Rock Gardens
    Given time to establish themselves botanical tulips can give an outstanding perennial display in the rock garden or rockery.
    • Tulip species also known as botanical tulips are natives of Turkey and Asia. Humilis varieties open in a wide star shape like a large crocus. T.Clusiana tend to be yellow bicoloured with red and flower march- April. T. Baalini has pale lemon flowers.
    • Greigii Tulips are noted for their brightly-coloured flowers and purple striped or mottled foliage. Plant height varies around 8 inches so stature Greigii tulips are excellent choices for borders or rock gardens. They also colonise well.
    • Kaufmanniana Tulips are long-lived perennial tulips. In sunlight, the flowers open fully. The open flowers resemble a star or water lily. Flower colours include white, yellow, pink, and intermediary colours. The foliage is bluish green or chocolate brown striped.

Other Tulip Tips

    • For a great display plant the bulbs in a round basket or container that will delineate the area where they will grow and make lifting easy. This spring I saw a great display of circles of tulips in tight formation one colour to a patch.
    • Botanical tulips don’t like competition so plant where the leaves won’t get covered by other plants.
    • Leave leaves until they become brown and the goodness has gone back into the bulb
    • Lift hybrid tulips in early summer and replant in November.
    • Plant 6 inches deep or a bit more if the soil is thin and sandy.
    • If you can’t bear to cut you prize tulips for the house buy your partner a bunch from a florist.
    Tulip Fire and Tulip Aphids
    • Rotting bulbs may be due to tulip fire. Destroy all infected bulbs. Avoid high nitrogen fertiliser.
    • Before planting or putting into store soak in Bio supercarb ‘carbendazim and allow to dry
    • Tulip aphids colonise bulbs in store including gladioli and crocus as well as tulips.
    • Remove aphids by hand
    • Treat before storing with Sybol
    • Tulip grey bulb rot causes bulbs to fail to emerge above ground, or produce severely distorted shoots which then wither and die off. Bulbs turn grey and dry as they rot away to leave only the roots and basal plate. Caused by a fungus that can persist in the soil so burn bulbs and don’t replant for 5 years

November is a good time to plant Tulips so you still have time to order and buy some more new bulbs. It seems to be a new marketing ploy to sell two or more types of Bulbs together so gardeners can pre-ordained the effects they wish to achieve.
These orange and purple Tulips looked blown but attractive in late May this year at Harlow Carr Gardens.

Tips for Twin Tulips

  • Check with your supplier that different bulbs will flower at the same time or the effect will be lost.
  • Bulbs from the same series are more likely to flower at the same time as that is how they have been bred.
  • Select your own mix of varieties from a good and informative bulb catalogue (or you will end up with pot luck as I do.)
  • Plant at the same depth (at least twice the bulbs width) or the depth may affect the flowering time.

I am looking at planting ‘Purple Passion’ a blend from Thompson-Morgan one of our sponsors.

Forcing Flower Bulbs

Forcing Flower Bulbs

A bowl of flowering bulbs can be delightful in the depths of winter and you can force them to flower as early as Christmas.

Conditions for Forcing

  • Bulbs need at least 4″ of compost for root development and good drainage in the pot.
  • Forced bulbs need a period in the cold at 7-9º Centigrade.
  • Dark conditions are also best
  • If there is no suitable indoor space the pots can be buried outdoors in soil that is not too wet.

Timing for Forcing

  • Plant the bulbs from 1st September until December. The earlier the start the earlier the flower.
  • Short cooling periods equal short stumpy flowers, too long cooling will produce excessively long flower stems.
  • After cooling, bring bulbs into the warmth and they will flower in 2-3 weeks.
Bulb Planting Date No Weeks Chilled
Hyacinth prepared 15.09 -15.12 10-12
Hyacinth unprepared 15.10 -01.12 11-13
Tulip

Blenda, Prominence

Arma, Yellow Present

01.10-01.12 14-15

15-17

Daffodil

Tete-a-Tete

Carlton

01.10-01.12 12-13

14-15

Crocus 01.10-01.11 14-15
Iris Reticula 01.10-01.11 12-13
Muscari 01.10-01.11 14-15

Amaryllis and Paperwhite Daffodils ( Tazeta narcissi) can be put straight into a warm room and do not need the chilling process. Hyacinths can be chilled at slightly warmer temperatures than other bulbs.

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Dividing Daffodils to Increase Flowering

Dividing Daffodils to Increase Flowering

daffodil

When bulbs get cramped for space they throw up leaf not flower. To improve the flowering from congested clumps of Daffodils they can be divided in June.

How to Divide Daffodils

  • Tip out the bulbs grown in pots and clean away loose compost.
  • Lift clumps from the border with a spade.
  • Tease apart the bulbs, discard very small or misshapen bulbs.
  • Grade the bulbs by size, the larger bulbs should flower again next year.
  • Smaller bulbs need to be grown on to increase their size – put them 2″ deep in a pot of John Innes No2.
  • Improve the soil before replanting with compost, leafmould and a balanced slow release fertilizer.

For bulbs naturalised in grass, wait until autumn. Strip back the turf then divide the bulbs.
Handle fresh bulbs with care as they bruise easily and that can cause rot.
After replanting water the ground and mulch over the planting spot.

Other Bulbs to Divide

  • Glory of the Snow or Chionodoxa – Divide after foliage dies; plant 3 inches deep.
  • Muscari or Grape hyacinths – Divide in summer replant 3 inches deep.
  • Tulips – Divide after foliage dies and plant 6 to 8 inches deep.
  • Scilla – Divide in summer, plant larger species just below soil, others 3 to 4 inches deep.
Growing Camassia Bulbs

Growing Camassia Bulbs

cha
Camassia is a genus of summer flowering bulbs that naturalises well in gardens. The leafless flower spikes have blue and occasionally violet or white star shaped flowers.

Culture and Growing Tips

  • The plant thrives in moist conditions in meadows, alongside streams and near ponds.
  • The soil needs to be high in humus, not waterlogged and otherwise the plant is easy to grow   forming  big clumps.
  • Camassia may be divided in autumn after the leaves have withered.
  • Bulbs should be planted 4″ deep in the autumn. Additionally the plant spreads by seed.
  • Leaves are slow to die down when grown in grass.
  • Flower spikes range from 1′ to 5′ tall dependent on variety.
  • Grow nfrom fresh seed or offsets from around the main bulb

Camassia

Camassia Varieties

What Flower is This? Unusual Tulips!

What Flower is This? Unusual Tulips!

No prizes but this is a Tulip called ‘Sensual Touch’. It is amazing what breeders are able to create with modern technologies.

As this is Tulip season I have included a few more less common pictures of Tulips that I have found on my travels this spring.


Blousy flower


Fringed Tulips

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Growing Corydalis for Colour and Fine Foliage

Growing Corydalis for Colour and Fine Foliage

Cordialis popovii

Corydalis popovii
is a small bulbous plant flowering up to 6 inches in height. In spring it assumes a white colouring after the purple flowers. This plant comes from Central Asia and is easy to grow and long-lived in a well-drained compost in a pot.
They can be grown in the open garden in full sun and freely drained soil.
Fertilize with a specific fertilizer for bulbous plants, every 2-3 weeks, from when the first flowers start withering.
Corydalis plants don’t like cold temperatures or wet conditions and need a rest period before being brought back into growth.

Corydalis wilsonii

Corydalis wilsonii arrived from it’s native china comparatively recently.
It is a compact herbaceous plant with light green leaves.
It flowers on errect spikes, 1″ long, in a deep yellow during late spring.
This variety is suitable for growing in pots.

I have just bought a Corydalis Kingfisher from the local AGS meeting. Kingfisher has blue flowers with a hint of green from March to Aug and is only without flowers when dormant during winter.

Alpine Species

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Bold Garden Displays

Bold Garden Displays

Abu Hassan Tulips

To make a bold statement in a garden you can opt for hard features and structures or soft features created by plants and flowers.

I personally err towards the plantsmans view and like plants. However the use of one variety in great abundance can have a startling effect as these Abu Hassan Tulips show.

Sticking to the Arabian theme not everyone can have a centuries old moorish bath in the garden like the featured garden below. The distinctly moorish shapes are replicated through out with the addition of large pots & stands both terracotta and glazed.

Moorish bath

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Bluebells a Gardening Friend or Foe

Bluebells a Gardening Friend or Foe

Bluebells are brilliant plants for woodland and glades but in my garden they are a bit of a nuisance. I would like to think my Bluebells are pure English but I think they may have hybridised somewhere down the line. They are scented but are light blue! I can’t remember
my flowers but English Bluebell flowers are narrow bell shapes hanging on one side of the stems, unlike the Spanish which are upright and wide open bells.

The reasons I find them a nuisance is the soft leaves become floppy and messy as soon as the flowering is finished. For years I have pulled up the leaves and composted them and thereby starts my problem. I have inadvertently spread the bulbils via compost to many unsuitable parts of my garden. The bulbs are deep and hard to eradicate so I am stuck with them.

See more Bluebells in Flower and ‘Tidy Up Bluebells’

It is illegal to dig up wild Bluebells but spring is a good time to plant them in the green. If after all this you wish to buy Bluebells you can do so from Thompson Morgan

Crocus corsicus or Corsican Crocus

Crocus corsicus or Corsican Crocus

Crocus corsicus

Collectors of Snowdrops are named Galanthophiles so should crocus lover be called Iridiaphiles. Perhaps there are already Iridiaphile clubs collecting the numerous Crocus species including the Corsican Crocus shown above. Wikipedia list 80 plus species.

Gardeners Tips for Corsican Crocus

  • I like the idea of growing crocus in pots in the alpine house so it is easier to inspect the blooms but they ‘go over’ quicker and the water control needs to be spot on. This pot is stood on an inverted pot to get more height on the bench.
  • Corsican crocus are best in a rockery not being robust enough to grow through grass.
  • A sandy well drained soil even in an exposed site should be fine.
  • Outdoors they go on flowering for longer than many spring crocus.
  • In early spring is a delight to see the striped buds poking up followed a few days later by the open buds showing a contrast of purples and lilacs plus the sepals, styles and anthers in orange and yellow. .

Read Crocus Tommasinianus and Crocus Planting Depth

Beginning Gardening Tips on Bulbs for Beginners

Beginning Gardening Tips on Bulbs for Beginners

Narsicci

These short tips are designed to help you avoid failures and give you success without having to worry about too many rights and wrongs. You haven’t missed spring yet but to get going you need a quick win!

Quick Wins with Bulbs

It is hard to go wrong with bulbs. (The flower is already sealed within the bulb and they just need a bit of help and protection from you).
In February you can buy pots of daffodils, tulips, grape hyacinth and crocus that have been grown for you. It is easy to put them into bare soil, a container or bigger plant pot and wait for them to flower.
I would take them out of the retailers pot as they will have been grown tightly packed together but I wouldn’t try to separate them. Plant them at the same depth as they have been grown so you do not need to excavate a deep hole.
When planted in the ground or a new container water them gently.
Daffs and crocus will flower again next year but the tulips may not survive (it won’t be your fault, it is just nature)

Summer Bulbs

  • Summer bulbs are the next job to get great colour this summer with minimum know-how and effort.
  • In March or April clear weeds from a patch of garden  and you have made a flower bed.
  • Break up the top of the soil so water and air can get down to the plants then individually bury your bulbs twice as deep as the bulb . The soil on top of the bulb will be double the depth of the bulb.
  • I would start with some short stemmed Lilies and if I know my garden is very wet I would but some sand or gravel at the bottom of the planting hole. If you are not sure which way is the top and what is the root then lay the bulb on the side and let the plant choose.
  • Gladioli, Begonnias and Dahlia will all produce very colourful shows in summer. Glads have a nobbly bit at the top, begonias have a slight hollow and Dahlias have a twiggy bit to show which way up to plant them.
  • Read the instructions on the packet for general guidance but you do not need to slavishly follow everything they say.

Rosy

Beggars Begonias

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