not with a whimper, but a bang

...as TS Eliot might say, were to describe the beginning of my garden's tulip season.

I turned my back on the garden for just four days, and when I got home I couldn't believe how many tulips had exploded into flower while I was away. What made the whole thing even more surprising was that it was a freezing-cold weekend with three inches of snow. And yet there was the ultra-reliable, ultra-large and ultra-lovely 'Ivory Floradale'  (above) waving to me, looking for all the world like multiple images of Snow White next to lots of Rose Reds (the smaller, deep wine-red 'Jan Reus' - below). I bet in the snow they would have looked just like a scene from the fairytale. 

Round the corner is what has turned out to be something of a hot-bed of tulips - lots of fiery oranges and warm apricots. (As I've said before, we never mark what goes where when planting; the element of surprise makes the whole spring thing so much more entertaining. It's also a good way to rationalise what is, essentially, laziness on my part.)   

Toady's pick of the bunch comes from this section. It's 'Orange Breeze' and looks palely peachy from the outside, but is a rich orange on the inside. It's a sturdy, early Triumph tulip

which is not terribly elegant or shapely,

but it provides a wonderful shock of colour in a room. It has lovely chartreuse-green markings on the petals which curve back to reveal the depth of colour inside.

I don't think you could ever really claim that the tulip season starts with a whimper (a whisper might be a better word), but this is definitely a big bang year.

Comments

[willow]

Really really lovely to see! Especially since Southern California is simply not tulip territory.

[di]

As usual, I love watching tulip season unfold at your home from afar :)

[Melanie Dunkley]

What a wonderful yellow - like a satin gown. The green in the orange is so pretty. It's all looking a bit like the red carpet at the Oscars (with Cate Blanchett in the yellow)!