Hello summer!

When gardeners get together these days, the talk is inevitably of earliness. Ten day, two weeks, a month—depends on what plant you’re talking about, but they’re all ahead of their time. That will happen when you have ninety-degree temps (occasionally) before summer even officially begins. Not to mention the boost of hot weather we had in the early spring.

This is the first year I have had lilium regales and daylilies opening in June, and my hydrangeas have almost completely colored up, as you can see, above. Containers and hanging baskets have to be watered almost continually, and there's no rain in sight.

Nonetheless, I’ll take it. I’ll take it over the triple-digits they’re having down south. They said this would happen, and it’s happening.

Those of us on garden tours are a bit concerned, but it’s also a good lesson. You can’t depend on flower power alone in a garden. There has to be structure, foliage, texture, elements like water features and sculpture, and some sort of design that holds it all together even when all your lilies are bloomed out (as mine may be by Garden Walk). But most of all, the garden needs to be an attractive and comfortable place for the gardener to hang out. Because it’s too hot to garden. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

FOTD: Poppy envy

It seems like almost every gardener has the conditions to grow these successfully and well, but I've never gotten into poppies. I just don't have an open sunny spot to spare for them. But after visiting Asheville North Carolina for the annual garden bloggers' get-together, I might need to become bitter about this.  I saw beautiful poppies in almost every garden, including a blue variety gardener Christopher Mello had carefully culled and selected to get (below).

They say the best way to do it here in Buffalo is to throw the seeds on the snow in February or so. Maybe next year I'll try.

FOTD: a solution for hybrid tulips

Many say their hybrid tulips come back year after year. That’s nice for them, and I think, given proper conditions, it is possible. It’s not possible on my property, and, even if it were, I’m not sure I’d want to give up that much in-ground planting space to tulips

What I’ve done is create two circular raised beds in front and plant hundreds more in containers. (And plant different species tulips throughout the garden every fall.) The hybrids are treated as annuals, for the most part, and composted yearly.

A first-year tulip bulb is almost magical. I wonder if it would just come up without soil or water, as long as it had a proper chilling period. All I do is throw the bulbs in pots, out them in the garage, take them out in April, and voila.

FOTD: Never enough

Species tulips are just as elegant and interesting as hybrid tulips, but they are small. You have to have a lot of them (sort of like crocus) and you have to observe which ones have the healthiest return rate throughout the seasons and plant more of those types.

Pictured above is humulis “Persian Pearl,” which is one of the most beautiful species out there. I love the combination of it and batalinii “Apricot Jewel,” below. That’s the other thing about species—they can bloom at any time between early April and late May depending on variety. Something else to watch.

And always plant more.

FOTD: Doubling up

Horticultural purists aren’t big fans of doubles. They feel hybridizers can unnecessarily complicate a simple form, making it fussy and ungainly. I don’t like all doubles, but I do enjoy double tulips. Most are scented and they seem to last longer that the singles, especially Black Hero, the double of Queen of the Night. The ones here are Montreaux, as forced by the local botanical gardens for their spring flower show. Double tulips, for the most part don’t seem to buckle under their own weight.

This can’t be said for double daffodils, which emerge earlier and can get clobbered by spring rains. They stems don’t hold up the way tulip stems do. I’ve had these Obdams for years, and they invariably end up face down in the mud. But they’re still lovely.

FOTD: Hellebores, again

A man walking by the house asked me about these today, and I was glad to talk about them. I now have ten, several of which have grown into fairly large clumps. But I never would have gotten addicted to them if not for three important factors:

-Interesting varieties in different colors and double forms are now commonly available, especially from Plant Delights, and they seem to be just as vigorous as the single whites I started out with. It looks like I have Onyx Odyssey and Kingston Cardinal, and (maybe) Ivory Prince, as well as some I can’t guess at.

 -They have a really long flowering period. They start in April (March this year) and the flowers hang on through June.

-They not only love shade, they can thrive in dry shade and compacted, root-ridden soil. 

 

I am considering carpeting the entire front garden in them. 

FOTD: Behold the Parrot

Over the top? Pushing the envelope? Gorgeous beyond belief? Parrot tulips are all that and more, and this is why it is mystifying to me why more gardeners don’t grow them.

It’s possible that parrots don’t return year after year like  … oh, that’s right, very few hybrid tulips return with regularity. Or maybe some feel they’re expensive? Yeah, that must be it—I’m sure I paid all of $8 for the group that yielded this bouquet.

Actually, I couldn’t care less if other gardeners embrace parrots. The only thing that will make me upset is if the demand gets so minimal that I can’t find them anymore. Expect organized dissent when that happens. As for these parrots, a blend from ColorBlends wholesale, they have more than fulfilled any and all expectations of pleasure that I ever expected. In fact, I’d be disappointed if they returned next year. It would lessen the drama.