Double the Daffodils, Double the Fun

I’m doing a bit of a time warp, using the date of my photos to backtrack and log the happenings about the lot. The crocuses have left our lot to be replaced by a whole-lotta tulips. The front bed is going bonkers with red and yellow tulips popping up all over. I’m seeing these tulips all over the neighborhood in the front of homes. Since our house was built in 1927, I’m wondering how old these flowers are. Was the neighborhood planted all at once? Were classic, red and yellow tulips in vogue one year? Or, maybe the bulbs have been divided over the years and gradually migrated down the streets, being handed from  neighbor to neighbor. 

As a pretty accent to the tulips, there are several groupings of double daffodils throughout this front bed. This is an introduction for me to the concept of “doubles.” A double flower has many overlapping petals that make the bloom appear very full. Personally, I think it makes the flower look like a poser, the flower actually wanting very much to be viewed as a type of rose. But, that does not mean I don’t find them pretty!

There are also some pink tulips and orange/yellow striped tulips in the southeast corner bed. Another orange/yellow striped tulips emerged from the sidewalk bed. In this bed, the scrawny, non-blooming peony from last year is well on it's way with a full bunch of leaves. It has at least doubled in size. There are two other peonies in the backyard bed. Maybe I’ll see more than one bloom among the three of them for this year.

Bloom Update

Wow. I had not realized how much time passed since I last made a post to the blog. I have to get better about making regular updates if I want this to be the handy garden tracker I’d hoped it to be.

Here are several more bulbs that popped over the last few weeks. This first is an Azure Grape Hyacinth ordered from Breck’s. I snapped the picture around the 15th of this month. The size of the mulch is a good indicator as to how little and dainty the flower is. The flowers pictured are planted in the main backyard bed, receiving sun all day long. The other five bulbs were planted in Loki’s garden, receiving a very small amount of sun in the morning hours. The buds of those are just breaking up through the leaves.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous with sun, a nice breeze, and temperatures in the high 60s. My Ice Stick Tulips, also ordered from Breck’s, finally opened up. The blooms had been ready to do so since Easter. As shown here, they seemed to enjoy the sun as much as we did. These guys are very sensitive to the weather. Today was very chilly and rainy, so the buds were sealed up tight. This fence bed receives more sun than the neighboring gate bed where I planted the other half of the ice stick tulip bulbs. Again, the bulbs in the gate bed, receiving a half of day's sunlight are several days behind the fence bed tulips.

This next flower was an absolute surprise when it started emerging. Two purple hyacinth are living in the southwest corner bed.


Finally, the Scilla survived! These bulbs, picked up from a local nursery, are part of my experiment in naturalizing an area with flowers. I planted the bulbs in the fall as directed on the package. However, instead of placing them in a bed, I cut circles into the turf and planted the bulbs directly into the back lawn near the alley. I can’s wait to see what these will look like in a few years.

First Day of Spring

Even though it was only 30 degrees outside this morning, when I returned home from work I was greeted by the first splash of color on our lot. We have crocuses. Now I know what flowers will be emerging from all the thin, dark green blades with light veins. These guys are in the sidewalk bed with what looks like some tulips. I wonder if there will be some purple as well. I hope these yellow ones open this weekend since the weather forecast is calling for sunshine and warmer temperatures.

Also, I found the first signs of bulbs I planted last fall. I believe this one is a “Queen of the Night” tulip. I mixed some of these with red anemones in the new fence bed. I scratched down what I planted where, though I have to find my notes to be sure.

There is activity in all the garden beds now. Tulips and star of Bethlehem are growing like crazy in the front bed. Sedum is budding up from the sidewalk bed and daylilies are poking out from house bed.