When we moved to our current house in 1984, it was late May and there was a cluster of red tulips blooming in the front garden under a birch tree. Fast forward a few decades, and the birch tree is gone (struck by lightning, and subsequently removed), and the same red tulips are still blooming. I think these must be Darwin tulips, the longest-lasting tulip bulbs I know. When … [Read more...] about Long-lasting Darwin tulips
Darwin tulips
It’s tulip time
Tulip season starts in April with smaller species tulips, such as yellow-and-white Tulipa tarda and violet T. pulchella, and ends in early June with parrot tulips, late double and peony-flowered tulips. May is prime time for tulips, and perhaps you have some thick stands of stems with buds beginning to turn colour. What I have is a lot of wide, fleshy tulip leaves and not so … [Read more...] about It’s tulip time
Plant therapy needed after the heat and wind
The past summer’s intense high heat and forceful winds were challenging for plant health, causing leaf tissues to desiccate and raising soil temperature in the root zone (the top 6 to 12 inches/15 to 30 cm of soil). I’m just glad to have it over and move into a cool autumn season, but plants are more permanently affected. If they enter winter dormancy in a debilitated … [Read more...] about Plant therapy needed after the heat and wind
