The tulip beds - which, admittedly, are mostly daffodils, so I may have to stop calling them tulip beds - are in full swing.
'Cynthia' (Tulipa clusiana)
'Cynthia' (Tulipa clusiana)
'Cynthia' (Tulipa clusiana) and creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera)
Most of the tulip varieties I've planted, while beautiful, have not been good at coming up in successive years, so I was happy to see 'Slawa' back this year (pronounced "slava", meaning glory in Ukrainian/Russian).
'Altruist' narcissi have better color this year than last.
'Barrett Browning' has a similar, but larger, orange corona to 'Altruist' and a white corolla instead of yellow.
On the other hand, 'Faith' is kind of disappointing to me. It's smaller, shorter and more salmon than pink than I was expecting. Maybe they'll get larger in the years to come, but I'm betting they don't get to be pink.
'Pink Charm' daffodils also have a more salmon than pink hue. I think they must doctor the pictures in the online catalogs.
One of the other tulips that returned was 'Purple Dream' - a gorgeous lily flowering variety. But I really miss the 'Purple Prince' and 'Mistress Mystic' classic tulips from previous years.
The Darwin hybrid tulips are great at coming back every year. They made a lovely bouquet, even though the petals were a bit beaten up by the hailstorm we had.
And as they aged, the petals got shinier and shinier.
I had to remove the falling down arch at the garden entrance because the grape vines, age and raccoons were taking it down. I hacked off the grape vines' branches and roots to about a foot and a half each and stuck them in the wildflower garden next to birdhouse poles. It seemed doubtful to me they would survive, but they did. They now have little pink leaf buds popping out.
I love this time of year when the perennial bed starts to come alive and take off.
But I do get tired of taking care of the plants I've grown from seed. The tomatoes are looking great though.
This year, I buried the last of the pets, Miss Kitty. So now, the pet cemetery (which is in the perennial bed) is getting a make-over. I purchased a mini petunia (Calibrachoa hybrida) - an annual - to pretty up the memorial plaque, and I'll plant perennial pink veronica (V. spicata Rosea). This year, it will probably also get another annual - Giant Rattle poppies. I'd like to see if they self seed.
As for crops, rhubarb has been harvestable for a couple weeks now. Peas I planted about 10 days ago are germinating, but the lettuces and onions I planted much earlier are still hibernating.
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