Showing posts with label Tulips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tulips. Show all posts

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Bulb Planting

 My daffodil bed is all yellow and white.  The red tulips died out a few years ago.  So I decided that purple tulips would look good.  I planted 25 in groups of 5 yesterday.  

Purple Tulips Photograph by Allen Beatty

And I planted 50 hyacinth in groups of 5 in the front yard.  They are unusual-looking. and supposedly deer-resistant.

Muscari 'Night Eyes' bulbs — Buy dark blue grape hyacinths online at ...

I was bit worn out.  The drill auger helped.


Both the purple tulips and the hyacinths will be great to see next Spring.  And the hyacinths will spread fragrance all over the front yard.   It was worth the effort.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Tulips And Other Flowers

The tulips were generally at their best yesterday.   




I used to have a lot more, but there are 2 problems.  First, the voles love them!  They find them almost anywhere.  Second, the fancier ones have short lives.  They are hybridized within an inch of existence for color rather than length of life.  Even if I plant them in wire mesh cages  (small enough to keep voles out but large enough to allow the stems to grow through), they still die younger than standard red ones.

Years ago, I planted perhaps 100 tulips in 2 years.  The first were among the daffodils around the backyard woods.  And some near the deck.  The following Spring, all I found were holes where the voles dug down and ate the bulbs.  The last 2 pics are of the only survivors (and notice they are solid colors). 

You can see how many there used to be...




So, when I established the 25x25' daffodil bed around the birdfeeder, I put the hyacinths and tulips in wire mesh cages.  But even that didn't help much.  At  8 bulbs per cage, about 10 cages, 80 bulbs...  I have 8 left and a few that are just leaves this year but might bloom next year.

I plan to dig up the cages in June when the leaves die back and try again.  But this time with standard old red tulips in the Fall.  They will stand out among the daffodils better anyway.

I have no idea why the caged hyacinths all died out.  They are usually long-lived if not eaten by voles.  Maybe the hyacinth stems are too thick for the wire mesh.  Maybe I'll try putting them in slightly larger mesh and surround them with sharp gravel chips.  I've read that deters voles very well.  

I want more hyacinths.  The fragrance is wonderful!

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Flowerbeds Part 5

The current view.   The late white daffodils.

Close up...
The edging specimen daffodils.  Separates the lawn from the perennial flowerbeds.
Some lucky tulips that the voles haven't found (yet).
Top shot of the same showing the neat dark centers.
Some tulips planted in mesh cages are still blooming nicely.
A 2nd patch.
I am thrilled about these.  They are a perennial flower called 'Maltese Cross'.  I planted a dozen of them in a temporary space and they all seemed to have died late last Summer.  Seriously, they just died back and disappeared.  But here they are growing early and healthy!
More of the species daffodils (they were on sale cheap).  They love it here.  I planted one per foot several years ago and look at them multiplying now!  I originally had the edging filled with crocuses, but crocuses are mole-candy.  But they don't eat daffodil bulbs!
Close up...
I've been renovating my flowerbeds and fence-plantings.  Some divisions I put into temporary storage hoping they would survive.  The tubs were originally for growing Yukon Gold potatoes, but since they sell them in the grocery stores now, no point to that.

So I have fancy hostas I can replant.
Autumn Joy Sedum divisions I can replant.
More Sedums...
My naturally-growing hostas are emergibng too.
I'm behind, but catching up.  Sometimes, that is all you can do.


Friday, May 5, 2017

Flower Pictures

After the Spring Bulbs are gone, I'm offerring a cascade of pictures of them.  Just to share and remember.




















Friday, April 21, 2017

Busy As Bees We Is. Part 5

I am worn out.  Today was the most recent day of hard work.  Went from Noon to 5 pm with two 15 minute breaks. 

Moving and dividing large Hosta plants surrounded closely by Daffodils I don't want to damage is hard.  Planting the divisions in new patterns among the existing Daffodils is even harder. 

My knees feel broken, my back muscles are complaining, and I got leg and side cramps after I stopped.  And I have Hostas I dug up yet to be transplanted (i watered them in a shady location before stopping for the day).  So tomorrow is "once more with the shovel".

So I want to show off some pictures of HAPPY...  They don't all apply to this week's work, but they are good reminders of why I do the work.
 
 A good standard Daffodil
 New Astilbes growing.
Serious contrast
Lovely tulips in wire cages to protect from voles
As bold as a Daffodil can get
Multiple daffodils
Bold colors
Bright colors
 Delicate colors
Multiple blooms
Many Tulips together
 And some planted 10 years ago still blooming (somehow escaping the voles)

The new flowerbed border Daffodils ('Hillstar')


 Iza In Flowers
Marley In Flowers




Looking Up

 While I was outside with The Mews, I laid back and looked up.  I thought the tree branches and the clouds were kind of nice. Nothing import...