Of course, as in previous years during this holiday break, I’ve been frantically planting the thousands of spring bulbs that I ordered so enthusiastically last summer. As I’m writing this, I still have a few hundred left to get in the ground once it stops raining.
This time I ordered 1,900 bulbs, that’s about 1,500 less than last year. The task of planting all these bulbs (which I plant all by myself I might add) is overwhelming. However, last year I started using an auger attached to my cordless drill which makes this task a lot easier (at least that’s how I convince myself). Naturally, my main motivation and drive stems from knowing that in just a few months, my garden will be an explosion of color from the hundreds of tulip, daffodil and hyacinth blooms in their full glory!
Here are some of my selections for Spring 2013….
‘Angelique’
‘Angelique’- Every year I plant ‘Angelique‘ in my garden and containers and every year I am always amazed by her beauty. Very romantic and feminine in appearance, this tulip closely resembles peonies when in bloom. The double blooms range from pink to pale pink to almost white.
‘Angelique’ with blue Starflower
‘Angelique’
’Big Eartha’- This year I decided to plant ‘Big Eartha’ tulips instead of the red tulips I normally plant in my front-yard island beds. These beds usually require at least 500 tulips so it makes quite an impact. ‘Big Eartha’ is a beautiful pink tulip with 20″ stems. Perfect for cutting. Can’t wait for my bouquets…
Tulip ‘Big Eartha’
‘Strike Me Pink’
‘Strike Me Pink’
‘Strike Me Pink’- is one of my favorite tulip mixes sold by Colorblends. Last spring I mixed them with snapdragons and hyacinths in my Lady Diana statue garden bed. I’ve done the same this year. Love the colors!
‘Dordogne’
‘Dordogne’- is a newcomer to my tulip collection this year. This tulip has been described as rose colored with yellow edges on the outside and fiery red with soft orange edges on the inside. Sounds like it puts on quite a show in the garden. A photographers dream…hope I can capture some of it’s exquisite beauty in my garden this spring.
‘Marilyn’
’Marilyn’- Oh, Marilyn! What a striking tulip. A pure white, lily-flowered tulip with strawberry flames. Wonderful in borders and containers. ‘Marilyn’ has once again been ‘sprinkled’ all over my garden….
‘Queen of the Night’
‘Queen of the Night’- I’m ecstatic that I was able to obtain this tulip this year for it seems to be sold out alot! Even though it’s described as a ‘nearly’ black tulip; its probably more of a deep, deep maroon. ‘Queen of the Night’ has large goblet-shaped blooms on strong 2 foot stems. Late spring bloomer. I plan on pairing her with ‘Maureen’ (see below) for a stunning display.
‘Maureen’
‘Maureen’- This will be my 2nd year planting ‘Maureen’ in my garden. A pure white late-blooming beauty. ‘Maureen’ does especially well in containers too. Combining her with ‘Queen of the Night’ this year.
So, these are all the bulb picks for my garden this year. I hope I’ve encouraged some of you to get a few in the ground before it’s too late!
Springtime is the most exuberant time of the year in my garden. Here’s an early ‘taste’ of Spring with some photos of my garden from last year…
Front yard island beds with red tulips.
‘Strike Me Pink’ Lady Diana statue planting bed.
Spring bulbs surrounding my conifers and Stonebridge.
My son, Nicholas amongst hundreds of daffodils.
How beautiful!! Do your tulips return the next year, or is it too warm in your area? There is someone in my area who plants 9,000 tulips every year. It is a stunning display, but I just can’t imagine planting all those tulips. I’m sure using the auger on your drill makes the job a little easier. Can’t wait to see the photos from this year’s display. Spring is right around the corner :-)
Thanks Toni ! Many of my tulips don’t
come back the next year and if they do they perform poorly, so I treat them as annuals. Yes, I’m counting the days till spring!
I’m curious if you’ve had any luck with the French Blend Rose tulips reblooming the following year, or if I should just dig them up and plant new ones in the fall?
Gabrielle.
I usually treat my tulips as annuals here in my Zone 7b garden. However, many of my species tulips (like ‘Lady Jane’) do come back. Not sure what zone you live in but here in the south I tend to plant new tulips every fall. It’s alot of work but so worth it the following spring.
And I thought I was doing great because I planted 60. These old bones don’t let me do as much yard work as I used to, so I’ll enjoy your photos, as usual. Happy New Year too.
Happy New Year to you Rilly ! I look forward to seeing photos of the bulbs you planted. Know the feeling about old bones…hopefully mine have a few good years left :-) ….
Lovely. I am partial to the smaller more unusual bulbs because I don’t have much sun, but I enjoy the photos of your tulips.
Oh, my goodness! What a lot of bulbs to plant and what fabulous rewards! Your garden is magical! Though a lot of work went into creating the magic!
That is still a lot of bulbs to plant, your Spring garden is just gorgeous. I was thinking of lifting the tulips after flowering this year, mind you I would be mad with myself if it wasn’t successful.
Came via Blotanical on your blog and saw your garden full of tulips. I planted hundreds of bulbs but you planted thousands and have even more to plant!
Your spring garden will be of an outstanding beauty again.
Wish you a lot of success and pleasure in your garden!
Janneke
Just found your blog and loving it. Angelique and Queen of the Night- my favorite tulips. Your photos are beautiful. Following you now.
Good luck planting your bulbs. I’ve totally given up on tulips, even though I love them, we have so many deer in our gardens that they are impossible to grow, you never get to see a flower bloom.
Great choices, Brenda! Can’t wait to see your spring pictures. Happy New Year! P. x
I’m glad you’re using a bulb auger. Last time I planted bulbs it was only 500, but even that wouldn’t have happened without the auger, it really does make much easier work of planting, and helps to save your back too! Your garden must look absolutely stunning in the spring!
Oh the colors! How absolutely stunning. We are deep in Winter here and our gardens are covered with a deep blanket of snow. So nice to be reminded that Spring will come. Angelique has always been a favorite of mine… so delicate.
All lovely selections. I love tulips and can never have enough.
You really enhanced the Strike Me Pink mix with the hyacinth and snapdragons. A sophisticated display for sure. To date, I have not planted any bulbs in my garden, but now I am very inspired!
I know some of these bulbs – I take notes at the Chelsea Flower Show and am dead inquisitive about the next choice of tulips but Dordogne is new to me . Covetable.
What fabulous pictures! You have filled me with inspiration for bulbs for my garden next year.
Beautiful selections, Brenda! I look forward to seeing your blooms this year! And I love your new blog design! Very fitting. That photo of the tulips, snapdragons and Diana is my favorite from last year. :)
~Julie
Thanks so much Julie. I’ve been drooling over your orchid pictures!
I seriously cannot get over how beautiful your garden is. Thank you for sharing it with us! I felt like I just had a garden tour! I, too, love Queen of the Night and Angelique tulips. Every year I like to plant a little patch of the two of them together but you’ve inspired me to purchase a few more bulbs this fall. :)
oh ps: I had Big Eartha in a former garden and they were wonderful–you’re going to love them!
You are so kind. Last year was a fantastic year for my bulbs. Hoping this year will too. Not off to a great start though. I planted about 450 Big Eartha. Unfortunately, when I awoke this morning the deer had devoured about 250 of newly sprouted Big Eartha foliage (I use deer repellant) so I guess the deer figured they were entitled to a Valentine’s treat! *Sigh*