Planting Tulips

Picture of some of the flowers grown in earlier years - with white Tree Peonies and Euphorbia.

This week we celebrated Anzac Day (25th April). Traditionally it is when we expect  our first frost and here in Canberra it is a good time to plant tulips. Seeing that some species come from Turkey, this seems like an appropriate day!

I recently bought a copy of "Bulbs in Containers" by Rod Leeds (2005). It covers flowering bulbs through the season from early Spring. Under the entry for Tulipa cretica, it notes that most tulips send out their roots late in Autumn, so the late Autumn planting makes sense. Delaying to the end of April, when we usually start to get frosts, reduces the risk of the bulbs starting to grow early and not forming flowers.

I have been growing tulips in Canberra since 1996. These days, I mostly grow my bulbs in pots. This allows me to move them to a sheltered cool dry spot over the summer, to avoid risk of rotting. With some types, I lift them from the soil, and store them in a cool dark spot under the house until Autumn. I have some tulips in the ground as well, and they do come up year after year, but often they get smaller and flower sparsely. 

Over the years, I have tried a lot of hybrid and species tulips with varying success. If I have managed to get a species type up, it usually continues OK for several years. Last summer was quite wet, and I lost some bulbs that had survived in the garden for years.

Some of the species I have grown include: Tulipa celsiana (fom B.H.Tonkin, 24/2/97) ,  Tulipa greigii (1996), Tulipa kolpatowskiana  (from Bryan Tonkin 17/3/2000), Tulipa platystigma  (from Bryan Tonkin) Tulipa whitallii (Bryan Tonkin 17/3/2000) and more recently Tulipa kaufmanniana (from Hill View). Of the earlier plantings, only three species survive (I think they are: T. celsiana some T. greigii types and T. whittallii) while T. kaufmanniana  is in its 3rd season in a large pot.

Tulipa kaufmanniana

The cultivars include: Tulip Apricot Parrot, (Windy Hill 6/2/1998), Tulip Flaming Parrot (Windy Hill 6/2/1998),  Tulip Washington (Windy Hill 6/2/1998 yellow and red early), Tulip Arabian Mystery (Windy Hill 6/2/1998) short near sweet peas violet with white edge,  Tulip Ile de France (Windy Hill 6/2/1998) red early tall, Tulip Cream Perfection (Windy Hill 6/2/1998) pale yellow, Tulip White Dream (Windy Hill 6/2/1998) late medium, Tulip Yellow (Windy Hill 6/2/1998) late medium, Tulips Yellow (Windy Hill 3/099), Tulip Ad Rem (Windy Hill 3/99) orange edge yellow, Tulip Estella Rynveld Parrot (Lake Nurseries 27/1/1998) late and good. A few of these still survive, mostly as small non-flowering bulbs, but I have lost track of their names.  

This year I am also planting: Tulipa batalinii 'Bronze Charm'- The 2012 Hill View catalogue describes it thus: Late flowers in a beautiful blending of soft yellow and faint bronzy-orange shading. Strong grower increasing well to make fine clumps over a relatively short time (so time will tell!). As well, I have the following cultivars from Vogelvry bulbs in Tasmania: Tulip 'Blushing Apeldorn', Tulip 'Queen of Sheba", Tulip 'Synaeda Show', Tulip 'Synaeda Orange' and Tulip 'Gavota'

Because we have had such a wet autumn I have planted the bulbs in a mix of bulb potting mix, cacti and succulent potting mix (which is very gravelly) with some charcoal, blood and bone and bulb food. When I was mixing the soils, I noticed that the cacti and succulent mix from Debco was much more gravelly than that from Scotts Osmocote Professional Cacti and Succulents mix - and I think the Debco mix suited my purpose better.

The pics below show some of the 2012 plantings before I covered them up. I have since planted some polyanthses in the blue pots and some chervil and Red Minuza in the grey pots to give colour and interest while the tulips grow below.

2012 Planting  -Tulip 'Blushing Apeldorn' and 'Gavota'

2012 Planting - Tulip 'Synaeda Orange' and 'Synaeda Show'

Gardens in Pakistan

It is mid spring in Pakistan, and in Islamabad, spring annuals are making a fine show. In the brief period between winter and the beginning of the searing heat of summer, col climate annuals such as ranunculus, snapdragons, statice, pansies and cinerarias are grown in bedding displays at the Serena Hotel.

The garden of the Serena Hotel is surrounded on 3 sides by the 5-story hotel. The main restaurant opens out onto a stone flagged terrace set down from the garden and reached by a semi-circular curve of two steps. The lawn of the garden undulates, small water features with fountains gurgle and a number of young trees provide height. Jacarandas, a brachychiton, weeping bottle brush in full bloom feature, along with palms and flowering bougainvillea. In the foreground, standard roses are in full bloom- the spoiled blooms being collected daily.