in praise of multiflowered tulips

A red ‘Lily Flowered Tulip’ creeping above the late spring snow.

Rhododendrons have many praiseworthy characteristics.

Liriodendron tulipifera or Tulip tree is a tall striking tree related to the magnolia with similar Tulip shaped flowers. It has been planted in Britain since 1688 as an ornamental parks and gardens tree.

Tulips grow from bulbs not catalogues but I guess that is obvious. Nevertheless I think the first job is to check over any Tulip bulbs you lifted last spring to dry off. Bin any with mould or soft centers, do not add them to your compost heap.

Tulips blowing gently in the breeze are a sign that summer is around the corner. If you only grow a few tulips then why not splash out on bulbs that will produce double flowers. Tulips can be planted until the end of November.

Tulip Buying & Planting Tips

The common bleeding heart, Dicentra spectabilis (epecially the gold-leaf cultivar ‘Gold Heart’), gives the peonies a run for their money; so does Jeffersonia diphylla (twinleaf) and many heucheras. Scientists postulate that in some cases anthocyanins, flavonoid pigments which are often masked in the main growing season by the green of chlorophyll, may either serve to deter herbivores from nibbling tender new shoots or perhaps help attract pollinators, a kind of lurid “come hither” ensemble. If you don’t look like a leaf, maybe nobody will eat you–and looking like a flower extra-early increases your chance of getting pollinated when your flowers come not too long afterward.These pigments probably taste bad, too, compared to green ones–another deterrent to nibbling–and may help also tender young leaves cope with excess light (meaning the pigments are “photoprotective“).Whatever the particulars, I am happy to crawl around enjoying it, camera in hand. Crawl around with me in a quick slideshow? (Click the first thum

I gave L. sempervirens (Zones 4-9), whose woody stems twist around the corner post on my back porch the last decade, a serious pruning last year, after it seemed to have a lot of leggy growth that was especially appealing to the aphids. It has responded really favorably: heavy bloom and stronger growth after a year of recovery.Its far more subtle yellow-flowered cousin (above), L.s. ‘Flava’ or ‘Sulphurea,’ hasn’t really been troubled by insects here in all the years I’ve had it, and seems content to grow in part shade, not just full sun, an added blessing. If you will only have one sempervirens, maybe this should be it? (Hint, hint.)The L. heckrottii hybrid called ‘Goldflame’ (above, Zone 5-9) has been around for years and is also sold as ‘Pink Lemona

Marion (with an impressive cabbage, below), is like her older sister and our parents a writerly type. Decades ago she began leaving voicemails that always started with, “I’ve got an Urgent Garden Question,” and then revealed her latest horticultural crisis.  In the early years, I suspected she was just trying to come up with an ice-breaker, and didn’t really need advice.We’d had some rough patches, as sisters do, and I knew she had a Master Gardener certificate—so why did she need my help? But it gave us a reason to speak, and get past things that had been in the way. For that I thank her (as I did in this 1989 essay and have been doing ever since). And I thank her for helping me solve my “how to do Q&A on the air” question, too.have a question to ask?WE’LL PUT OUT A CALL for your latest questions on Facebook before each Q&A edition of the radio show, and you can also ask here on the blog anytime. Each month I’ll gather the best ones—best as in likely to be most helpful to others—and answer them on the air.a way to garden

As far as I can tell, only the catalogs of Van Engelen and John Scheepers (two related companies, the former selling large quantities and the latter smaller ones) maintain a whole category of these wonderful tulips, which aren’t a class in themselves technically but more a habit of blooming that is found within various official tulip classes. That’s why they’re hard to find–you have to search for “bouquet tulips” or “bunching tulips” or “multi-flowering tulips” (and the variations of that last one like without the hyphen, or with -flowered as the suffix). They range in color:‘Red Bouquet’ (top photo) has a yellow throat and is simply stunning (I used to see ‘Orange Bouquet’ and ‘White Bouquet’ for sale, too, but don’t lately). ‘Florette’ is a daring bicolor of yellow with red edges. ‘Antoinette’ opens yellow, developing pink edges and fading to salmon. ‘Happy Family’ is purplish-pink Triumph type. Want the multi-flowering habit on a smaller-stature plant? Look at the variety called praestans ‘Unicum’ (a sport of the better-known praestans ‘Fusilier,’ maybe 10-12 inch

I’ve worn out a number of tip bags in my time, but generally speaking they’re pretty resilient creatures. I like the size-XL wide-mouth types, but you can get them smaller, more upright (like a giant beer can), or square, or even one that you wear. No kidding. Good if you are up on a ladder, for instance.I even turned some fabric nursery “pots” with handles into smaller tip bags, when I wasn’t happy with them for growing things.Most tip bags come with stiffening rings that you insert into the top lip, so the bag stays open. But as you can see from my photo, my tip bag’s usually at half mast, because I skip that feature. Just a quirk. Floppy is fine with me.I’ll admit I still feel sentimental about the bushel baskets—a.k.a., fruit baskets—that I used to be able to score at curbside outside the green grocer on trash nights. I loved getting them for free. (You can buy them by the dozen—but I don’t need a dozen;

I love creating flowers for my garden by repurposing things. It's fun to have little surprises tucked away here and there.