Tulips

Jun 11, 2023

Tulips

TOO MANY TULIPS
LILY FLOWERING TULIPS
SOLID COLOR TULIPS
MIXED COLOR TULIPS
FRINGED TULIPS
SPECIES TULIPS
SEEDLINGS

TOO MANY TULIPS:

Is it possible to have too many? With our heavy clay topsoil and often soggy or foggy conditions I’ve wondered where my head was when I thought it would be a good idea to plant even more than we had before. Yet when I see something so beautiful as this it is hard for me to resist.

The tulips that have survived and been moved aside so we could plant more easily into that garden area for growing vegetables. They still put on a pretty show, but there are many that have died off.

Left - May 05 2023 (4150K) tulip

Orange Shadow - May 2 2011 (1161K) tulip

Over the years I’ve tried different things to help out the conditions for them. Before they were planted in clay with little or no drainage. They didn’t do the best, but some survived.

2nd Tulip Patch - May 2 2010 (719K) tulip

One year I raised up the two long narrow gardens but the tulips and daffodils didn’t do all that well. Then I combined the two long narrow gardens, put in better drainage and topped the area with a lighter mix of topsoil and sand. It looked good for a few years, but the soil was too poor and botrytis came back. You can see I had a pretty varied collection.

Wide Angle Tulips - May 7 2013 (477K) tulip

I’ve had some of the same fungal spots on the lilies as have been attacking the tulips. A few years ago I used some partially decayed wood chips on the lily garden to add more fungal species - it did help. I am planning on adding them to the tulip gardens this year (2017) - I should know in a few years if it is an improvement (I expect it will be).

Below are some selected pictures from over the years (I’ll add some more eventually).

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