Crazy, crazy weather, global warming and we’re having one of the coldest, wettest Mays in a long time here in southern Ontario with serious flooding in eastern Ontario, Quebec and around Canada. In spite of the cold and rain, the spring blooms march on with the big players blowing their trumpets…tulips and daffodils. Even though I’m Dutch, I’m not a big fan of the large tulips (gasp!). They grow huge messy leaves that last forever and you have to leave them to die or the bulbs will perish and most of them only look good for a few years then slowly dwindle away. I much prefer the smaller species tulips with their more delicate leaves and reliable show every spring. If they are happy, they even spread, forming lovely colonies of colour
That being said, I can’t resist the curvaceous lily tulips that sway gracefully on long stems and seem to be more perennial in nature than some of the other ones. Westpoint has the added bonus of having a delicious scent, rare in tulips.
Yellow Westpoint and pink Mariette lily tulips with white Thalia daffodils
Purple and white Ballade lily tulips with Gardenia daffodils and checkered lilies
On the other hand, I love all daffodils (Narcissus family), big and small. The dainty narcissus and jonquils generally bloom earlier and the larger daffodils close after. Narcissus was the hunter in Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection and died staring at it! Narcissistic means being self absorbed with one’s appearance but daffodils have every right to be proud! They come in gorgeous shades of yellow, pink, peach and white now, with both single, double and even split trumpets and all are scented.
Double yellow daffodils
Snowy white Thalia daffodils glowing in the spring sunshine
Dainty pink tulipa clusiana Lady closed tight against the chilly morning air
Remember, all these bulbs are planted in the fall so mark some room in your garden and keep a list of the bulbs you love. If you’re like me, I will have long forgotten their names and of course dig up last years bulbs when planting the new ones!!
Next, the Supporting Players…
Happy Gardening 🙂
