Tulips dressed in silky tutus are twirling about in late-March winds. The first dancers taking the stage are Van Eijk whose tremendous pink blooms flushed with yellow spread their citrusy fragrance touched with a hint of vanilla and the freshest, richest cream throughout any room in which I place them. When a bloom starts unfurling, the outer petals are splotched lime-green. At first, I wondered if in my eagerness for cut flowers, I picked them too early.
Within an hour, the green mellowed into yellow.
Its stupendous perfume emanates mostly from its core, so I get close to their innards and breath in deeply. Ah! Spring is officially inside our home. The interior of the bloom is closer to scarlet than pink.
Last autumn, I planted several varieties of bulbs to include early, mid, and late season numbering to around two-hundred. There are/will be Darwin hybrids, Late-Single (cottage tulips), Lily-Flowering, Parrot, Viridiflora, and Species. To honour the abundance, I splashed out for a rectangular holder for up to thirty-two tulips. It's a reproduction of one of The Rijksmuseum's Delft Blue artefacts.
Unlike daffodils, most tulips do not bloom from year to year so they often are regarded as annuals. One exception is Apeldoorn, a Darwin hybrid. Its second season of blooming is much appreciated.
The purple plum tree's branches are laden with delicate blossoms.
When the rain ceases for a while, I garden. Moist soil allows for easy 'lawn' edging.
Such soil is good also for transplanting. These two Junipers (Sky Rocket) were about 15 cm (6 inches) when they arrived in the autumn of 2016. They were put in a nursery bed and are now around 90 cm (3 feet). Buying shrubs when small through the mail may mean a better choice and lower price than from the local plant nursery. This narrow variety is moderately fast-growing, has a blue-green foliage, and grows tall enough to resemble a green steeple. It is also fairly combustible so my first choice of placing them near the front of the house got changed to putting them relatively far away from it.
The asparagus patch is coming to life.
The late-afternoon sky decided to say hello to the tulips via a rainbow!
À la prochaine!
Within an hour, the green mellowed into yellow.
Its stupendous perfume emanates mostly from its core, so I get close to their innards and breath in deeply. Ah! Spring is officially inside our home. The interior of the bloom is closer to scarlet than pink.
Last autumn, I planted several varieties of bulbs to include early, mid, and late season numbering to around two-hundred. There are/will be Darwin hybrids, Late-Single (cottage tulips), Lily-Flowering, Parrot, Viridiflora, and Species. To honour the abundance, I splashed out for a rectangular holder for up to thirty-two tulips. It's a reproduction of one of The Rijksmuseum's Delft Blue artefacts.
Unlike daffodils, most tulips do not bloom from year to year so they often are regarded as annuals. One exception is Apeldoorn, a Darwin hybrid. Its second season of blooming is much appreciated.
The purple plum tree's branches are laden with delicate blossoms.
When the rain ceases for a while, I garden. Moist soil allows for easy 'lawn' edging.
Such soil is good also for transplanting. These two Junipers (Sky Rocket) were about 15 cm (6 inches) when they arrived in the autumn of 2016. They were put in a nursery bed and are now around 90 cm (3 feet). Buying shrubs when small through the mail may mean a better choice and lower price than from the local plant nursery. This narrow variety is moderately fast-growing, has a blue-green foliage, and grows tall enough to resemble a green steeple. It is also fairly combustible so my first choice of placing them near the front of the house got changed to putting them relatively far away from it.
The asparagus patch is coming to life.
The late-afternoon sky decided to say hello to the tulips via a rainbow!
À la prochaine!