Re: Tulips & Companions
- To:
- Subject: Re: Tulips & Companions
- From: L* R*
- Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 14:47:42 -0600
Wish I could scan the pictures I took last spring of my front bed...I
planted 500 tulips, half are purple and half are red. When they are in
bloom, the traffic stops to look! We have a large kidney-shaped bed (about
8' X 20') on either side of our driveway, so the other one I've done in a
mixed theme, planting clumps of 10 - 12 bulbs among the trees and shrubs
(japanese cherry, forsythia, rhododendron, hydrangea, laurel, lilac). I
know I will fall in love with some new bulb plants every fall, so this way
I know I'll always have a bed to accommodate my whims.
I have one flower bed themed 'Wedgewood' - all in white, blue and purple.
The first show is white tulips, purple anemones, muscari (tons), scillia,
snowdrop and crocus. I have found three different white tulips that bloom
early mid and late spring, and just before they are done, the white peony
bushes put on their show. Bu then, my perennials (candytuft) start their
show and keep going until fall. I have blue delphiniums in the back, with
hydrangea, white rose of sharon, sage May Night, russian sage, phlox,
henrii clematis, jasmine, himalayan blue poppies. That's all I can
remember now. The effect is very pretty.
A couple years ago I truddled around our lawn with my dauber (spellt OK?)
and a big bag of crocus, and planted them at whim. What a lovely sight to
look out on in February.
One mroe idea. In one bed, which is partial shade, the theme is white and
green. But, for a spring show, I planted about 100 red tulips underneath
the birdbath, and then outlined with muscari. The red and purple is so
breathtaking.
I think the key is either very simplistic, or go overboard and plant 100's
and 100's!
Great topic. Thanks for all the new ideas. We have 13 separate
flowerbeds, so enjoy the inspiration.
Lorraine
White Rock, B.C.
Canada
Zone 8
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> From: Anne Long <along@ameritech.net>
> To: perennials@mallorn.com
> Subject: Tulips & Companions
> Date: Saturday, January 16, 1999 2:05 PM
>
> Good topic! ...and a way to anticipate Spring. My favorite tulip
> combinations include:
>
> In two parkway beds under maple trees, clumps of salmon pink tulips with
> yellow and white daffodils, blue muscari, and lots of large hostas of
> various kinds. The spring show is great and the hosta leaves add a
> sense of anticipation and help mask all that ratty foliage when the bulb
> flowers fade away. Fill-in plants include some daylily clumps at the
> sunny ends, and patches of fall-blooming woodland asters, which do great
> in dry shade, which is what these beds turn into during the summer.
>
> Under a kousa dogwood, more clumps of green & white varieg. hosta, with
> pale pink & purple tulips, masses of white Greek windflower (anemones)
> and electric blue scilla siberica. Also in this bed, which gets some
> midday sun but not a lot, are clumps of pink astilbe and geraniums, the
> foliage of which also helps hide the bulb foliage die-down. For later
> interest, there are tall Japanese anemones in white and deep rose. An
> inkberry shrub in this bed is evergreen (right now, it's ever-white,
> since it's under 4 feet of snow).
>
> Actually, I stick a few tulips here and there almost everywhere, in
> various perennial beds (sometimes even in the veggie bed). I like the
> tall May blooming kinds that bloom when a lot of perennial foliage is
> beginning to look good -- daylilies, shrubby clematis, lilies, phlox,
> hardy geraniums, etc. I put the tulips toward the back of the bed so
> the fading leaves are not up front -- deep pink tall May tulips (along
> with white) look great in this situation. That tall somber-purple
> fritallaria (persica?) also adds drama to tulips & other spring
> bloomers. I also love the Actaea narcissus that bloom late -- the
> fragrance is heavenly! Of course, I manage to accidentally dig up a few
> bulbs every year in this mixed planting while I'm moving perennials, so
> a few replacements are called for -- like 100-200 bulbs every other year
> or so! Nothing to compare with you all who have the space for 1000-plus
> bulbs.
>
> Anne -- Chicago
> The icicles are melting today, but the snow piles are still
> hip-high...
>
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