Tulips

[EastTexFrank]

Well Jim, you've found my soft spot. Tulips, along with roses, are the only flowers that I've ever enjoyed growing and strangely, I've never tried them in East Texas but you might have inspired me. Many years ago, I used to grow them in beds against the house. You can get many varieties that grow different heights and stagger them in beds with the taller ones in the back, medium one and short ones at the front. It makes for a spectacular display of color against a wall.

 

[jinman]

I was watching a show about Tulips in Holland and some of what goes into the planning of their gardens. They said that for the most impact, to not mix your colors. Plant the entire bed in one color. Then if you have room, do another bed in another color.

Yeah Eddie, I waited half the day for the Dutch Boys to show up to help me, but they didn't show, so I planted them the way Kathy and I wanted instead. Actually, the center of the the bed is all deep red and the outside ring has multi-colored bulbs. I'm not really happy with how the timing and size of the plants has turned out. Nothing on the bags of bulbs was there to tell me how to identify the bulbs nor what I could expect as far as differences in height. We've noticed the pink tulips are 4" to 6" taller than the rest. The red tulips seem to take longer to sprout (We raised the center of the bed hoping to make the red ones stand out. Even at that, the pinks in the outside ring are taller...sigh!). The yellow tulips are the shortest and the orange/red multi-colored ones are yet another height. If I had identifiable bulbs and multiple beds, ensuring all the tulips of each color were in each bed would be a perfect way to keep all blooms at the same height. Even so, I could let these grow until they die back and then dig the bulbs and put them into identified bags for next year. I don't think I'll do that this year. I want to just leave them all in the ground and sew zinnias on top of them for the summer. I want to see if my tulips sprout earlier and get bigger if they alread have established root systems around the bulbs. ETFrank is right. They are beautiful flowers and nothing on my road, from the highway to the end over a mile past my house, has anything as pretty as my spring tulip bed, even with the multiple colors and heights.:dance1:

ETFrank: I bought two big bags of tulip bulbs at Sam's Club. If I plant more, I will probably try to buy single-color bulbs as Eddie suggested. I want to build a short retainer wall along my driveway on the yard side. Behind that retainer would make a perfect spot for a long flower bed that could be broken into several 25' segments all with densely planted tulip beds of single colors. Now that I know I can grow them, I'm gonna be outta control.:laughing:

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Here are a few pics from a nearby Tulip farm. Looks to be about 100A.

The town has a month long Tulip Festival every spring and brings in many thousands of visitors.

 

[jinman]

Here are a few pics from a nearby Tulip farm. Looks to be about 100A.

Wow! Just like mine. . . NOT!:laughing: Gosh, that's beautiful and colorful.:thumbsup: I take it that they sell bulbs off that farm.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Sure do. Here is their web link. Tulips, Daffodils and Other Bulbs - Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

From the web link looks like the festival opened up just a couple days ago.

The wife and I try and visit the festival regulary and over the decades it has grown. Since we moved last fall, visits to the area and all the flower farms will be less frequent.

Here are a couple links to other nearby flower farms. Just a few of many.
Schreiner's Iris Gardens - Hundreds of varieties of radiant irises for your flower garden
Swan Island Dahlias providing the highest quality dahlia bulbs and dahlia flower
Roses, Rose Bushes, Rose Gardening, Rose Plants