Tulips


Rembrandt Tulips:
Two flowers were bitten off, including the one in the front-center in this picture. April 3, 2010 See Oct. 11, 2009
Got 12 from Brecks.com and planted them in a small, sunny bed amidst 50 Mountain Bells: Oct. 11, 2009

See April 3, 2010


Here is the catalog picture and description:

Recreate “Tulipomania” in your garden. That phenomenon gripped Holland in the 17th century and literally fortunes were spent for just a single bulb. Most prized were the Rembrandt Tulips, noted for their intriguing colour patterns. At last hybridizers have succeeded in creating these improved, superior, upmarket varieties so that we can offer them to you. Flowers bear an even more remarkable, striking resemblance to the tulips depicted by the Dutch Masters, hence their higher cost and value. This special mixture of modern-day Rembrandt Tulips from Holland features a colourful array of feathered, variegated 4" blooms that are stunning in the garden and in bouquets.


Because Tulips tend not to do well after the first year they bloom, I researched planting recommendations
and tried to follow them. I had to use a large gas-powered auger to break up the ground 12+" deep, dug out
the roots, rocks, and clay, put in a 6"-layer of a mix of new topsoil and humus, then a thin layer of bone meal,
followed by a thin layer of sand, then the tulip bulbs, then covered that with 6" of humus and topsoil mixed,
then poked 3"-deep holes with my fingers to put each Mountain Bell bulb in, then smoothed it out.

Because we have a lot of squirrels, armadillos, etc., I covered the bed with heavy chicken wire and covered
that with mulch. I've read that after blooms flade, the stems should be cut off to prevent energy from being
spent on the production of seeds. Around the edges of the bed are some Self Heal and Beardtongue which
will bloom in the summer after the Tulips and Mountain Bells are done.

Oct.18: A critter attacked the bed last night and dug up all around the bulbs big time, but thanks to the chicken
wire, they did not get to the bulbs.


Fire and Ice Tulips Combo
Got 20 from SpringHillNursery.com and planted them in the northwest bed.
April 3, 2010:
Deer ate the first 3-4 tulips before I could get deer repellant on them. In this picture, a dozen tulips are open,
including six Parrot Tulips, so with the 3-4 which were eaten, we netted about 15 out of the 20 planted. 		See: Oct. 15, 2009


Here is the catalog picture and description:

Our horticulturists have combined upright, single, double and Parrot Tulip varieties into a bold mixed planting that blooms for an extended period of several weeks. Fantastic for romantic displays and cutting! Includes a medley of dark velvet red, deep maroon, ivory and two-toned flowers. Grows 18-24" tall in full sun. Tulipa Full Sun - Bloom Time: Early to Late Spring - Size: 11-12 cm bulbs - Zones 3-8.

The reason that I planted these tulips out by the edge of the golf course -- right where the deer walk by -- is because that bed gets more sun than anywhere else on our lot.
What I didn't realize at the time I was planting them is that during the winter and early spring, most of the trees in our yard don't have leaves, so it's sunny everywhere,
and I could have planted them in a location away from the deer, such as in our driveway circle bed.

Also, a bed of 20 tulips is not all that impressive, and even less so when 4-5 of them never open, and 3-4 get eaten, and half don't bloom until a week or so after the others, so next time I would order something like 50 to open at the same time, or a mix of 100 with 50 early bloomers and 50 mid-to-late.