Whilst my back was turned for a weekend away some bright tulip colour quietly crept in and took me by surprise on my return this afternoon. I make no secret that I have a love/hate relationship with tulips - love the flowers and hate the leaves. I think that the bulbs pick up on my vibes so don't usually perform well. Sadly my autumnal bulb planting schedule went out of the window last year, so nearly all of my hopes in the tulip department have been pinned on bulbs that were planted in pots in the autumn of 2015. After flowering the pots were unceremoniously shoved at the back of the greenhouse and have been left to their own devices ever since. They have rewarded me with what seems the earliest ever tulips in flower so of course a trio of stems had to be snipped to leap in to this week's 'In A Vase On Monday'. Unless the squirrels have been playing musical labels I'm reasonably sure that these are 'Orange Emperor'. Along with them a stem of a hellebore (name unknown,very tall stems) together with a trio of narcissus - 'Thalia', 'WP Milner and sweet scented 'Bridal Crown'. I'm not sure whether I've shown the vase on a blog post before. It's a fairly recent find from a charity shop and it's Chinese. That's all I can tell you about it.
I wasn't sure whether I would get a vase together today but then I remembered that magical extra hour of daylight that we have gained, so there has been time to catch up with some domestic chores and still time to play. Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling At The Garden' for her unwavering prompt to celebrate the start of a new week with some flowery goodness.
Glad you had that extra hour today to prepare a vase Anna. Lovely flowers.
ReplyDeleteThat hour was certainly a bonus Suzie. Thanks for your comment :)
DeleteI too am amazed at the progress of tulips shoved away in pots in the back of beyond - they seem to survive better than tulips in the ground. I don't always keep labels for pots like these, so like you I shall have some surprises! Thank you for sparing your emperors for this vase, along with the lovely range of white narcissi - the charity shop vase is perfect for them. Have you been up to the caravan?
ReplyDeleteIt must be a survival instinct that spurs them on to perform so well Cathy. Hope that you enjoy some pleasant surprises too. Yes we had a lovely long weekend in Cumbria in the caravan :)
DeleteThe flowers are developing quickly now. Lovely,
ReplyDeleteThere's no stopping them once they start :) Thanks for your comment Sue.
DeleteWhat a lovely surprise - the best kind!
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed Eliza :)
DeleteWhat a lovely spring arrangement in your Chinese ginger pot. I love these dainty smaller narcissi, Thalia is a particular favourite.
ReplyDeleteOh Chloris thank you so much for shedding some light on the origins of my pot. I'm so pleased to know more about it.'Thalia' is a favourite with me too.
DeleteYour pot is overflowing with the joy of spring! I'm with you on the tulip flower/foliage thing. T. 'Fire of Love' has beautiful foliage though. https://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/Tulipa/Fire-of-Love/Tulip
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion Peter :) I've not heard of that particular variety but will investigate later.
DeleteTulips are my favourite cut flower. They look so cheery here with the daffodils. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteWelcome Emma and thanks for your comment :)
DeleteYour arrangement is lovely. Hellebores are fast becoming one of my favorite flowers! Happy Gardening!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting and for your comment Sally which is much appreciated. Another hellebore fan here too.
DeletePerfect surprise for you. If your tulip is Orange Emperor it is much more deeply orange than mine were but that could be because they were in the greenhouse so maybe less light!
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly sure that they are 'Orange Emperor' Christina. It could be as you suggest that there might be a difference as yours were grown under cover or it could just be my photo. I'm inclined to suspect the latter but it's too dark for me to check on the colour at the moment :)
DeleteYou have picked 3 of my favourite narcissi for this vase Anna - I think Bridal Crown is my absolute favourite. My first tulips popped out today - I too had a very bad autumn planting season but there are still plenty of tulips from previous years - just not as many as I had planned.
ReplyDeleteI've grown 'Thalia' and 'WP Milner' for some years now Julie but the 'Bridal Crown' came ready made in a little bowl from a supermarket last year and surprised me by coming good again outside this year. I will have to add to their numbers now. Perhaps we will both enjoy a bulb planting bonanza this autumn :)
DeleteI think growing tulips in pots ticks a lot of gardening boxes. You should have the Chinense vase valued Anna, you never know.....
ReplyDeleteYes Brian tulips and pots win hands down when it comes to a good combination. I doubt if the vase is worth more than I paid for it and as I'm clumsy it would be tempting fate to take it out of the house :)
DeleteWho knew that tulips would appreciate being ignored! It must have been a delight to return home and discover that cheerful blast of orange color, Anna. I know how you feel about tulip foliage (although here tulips generally provide ONLY foliage with the flowers dying in bud in response to untimely wind events or heatwaves) - I feel much the same about most bulb foliage. Much as I appreciated the Scilla and Dutch Iris flowers produced by this winter's heavier than normal rains, now that the flowers are gone I just want the messy foliage to disappear!
ReplyDeleteI think that tactic paid dividends Kris even though I didn't mean to ignore them ...... just forgot that they were there :) I'm with you about bulb foliage apart from snowdrops of course.
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