tulips – Page 4 – variegatagal

Elusive white narcissus – mistaken identity

03/12/08 Mystery Narcissus Revealed - Accent Daffodil

What I originally thought was the first Thalia narcissus bloom in my garden bore further inspection after I took snapshots of it yesterday. This was not the all-white, multi-flowering, orchid-like daffodil that I was expecting! Both blooms that I had seen so far boasted a white perianth and a yellow (!) cup. It caused me grave concern as I was about to shoot off an email inquiry to Brent and Becky’s about it…until I racked my brain trying to remember if I had EVER purchased and planted daffodils before.

Then it hit me…Breck’s. I scoured my old archive email for an answer–thank goodness, I still kept those around. And there it was, dated 4/14/06, an order from Breck’s for 2 packages of Accent Instant Bloom Daffodils along with some Inzell, Frosty Beauty, and a color assortment of tulips. The tulips which I had lost in the beds some time ago had occasionally surprised me with a red or yellow bloom here and there (I wrote off the Frosties a long time ago), but I had never caught sight of the Accent daffodils until now.

It made perfect sense now why the yellow cups faded to pink, as the Accent supposedly had salmon/pink cups as they aged. I’m not sure how many of these Accents have survived over the last two years, but it’s a testament to their hardiness that they persisted this long. Mystery solved.

More purchases, plantings, and today’s wishlist

On Tuesday, dear hubby and I took a trip to the local Home Depot. I was intent on building on the idea of his tree ring by grabbing 16 red/charcoal foot-wide retaining wall stones. I also needed some new gardening gloves and gave me a good excuse to check out the plant selection. Sadly, no blue salvia in stock. I did find two trays of Agastache Acapulco Salmon & Pink in full bloom. I took one home and got it planted yesterday.

I discovered that the Salvia Hot Lips in the side yard had gotten so big and rangy that it overwhelmed a neighboring purple salvia (along with a black ophiogon, artemisia, and the only other existing anemone). I quickly dug up the purple salvia–okay, more like violently uprooted–and transplanted it to the middle bed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to survive the move, having lost much of its rootball. It hadn’t been too healthy to begin with after living in the shadow of its leggy neighbor.

So I’ve been toying with the idea of putting crocuses in the yard, except that I learned that they are considered annuals in Texas. Having learned my lesson with tulips, I’m not about to invest in a single-year show. So other ideas have crept onto my white-and-blue wishlist of the day: more muscari, more irises (dutch and dwarfs), white daffodils, white callas, allium caeruleum (azureum), nepeta (catmint) racemosa or faassenii, black leaf plants such as heuchera and ajuga and penstemon digitalis Ruby Tuesday. I’m also growing fond of Agastache rupestris and a agastache coccinea x rupestris hybrid called Firebird.

Speculation of the day: those salvia greggi reds in my front yard–could they be Furman Reds?

Reviewing an old order

I emailed High Country Gardens yesterday to request a copy of my November invoice, which they gladly sent to me.

Tulip Bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’ x1
Muscari Botryroides ‘Album’ x4
Muscari Armeniacum x4
Tulipa Humilis ‘Alba Coerulea Oculata’ x2
Allium Christophii x2
Allium Karataviense ‘Ivory Queen’ x1

To my knowledge only the Tulipa humilis was the no-show in my garden this year…the one I most wanted to see in bloom. The Tulipa bakeri was kind enough to put out 2 blooms before disappearing into the ground altogether (picture taken 3/9/07). The white flowering muscari and allium weren’t nearly as spectacular as their darker colored counterparts, Ivory Queen proving to be a shorter, ground hugging allium than Christophii. The alliums however do make for interesting dried subjects, their preserved spiky heads still linger in the garden today….

Catalog days

It’s that time of year again when online and mail-order nurseries bombard the mailbox with their colorful harbingers of spring: the plant and seed catalogs. As usual, they are full of picture-perfect bouquets and irresistible plant collections, not to mention time-sensitive and money-saving offers, in an attempt to get gardeners to open their wallets. Nothing like a slew of full-color catalogs to get me started thinking about flower beds and landscaping.

This year DH and I are committed to restoring the backyard to some semblance of a grassy lawn. DH and drought had effectively killed off most of the Augustine, though some of it has eked out an existence hiding in the lea of our house and under the fence’s shadow. We hope to seed some bermuda, water restrictions permitting, this spring in order to spare ourselves from a mud-stained carpet. Three pups can track in a lot of dirt and mud, among other things.

The tulips and muscari I planted over November and December last year have sprouted, and thankfully, weekly showers have dampened the ground to sustain them. I haven’t determined if any of the alliums have burst through the ground. I hope to have some time this coming weekend to assess the flower beds.

Tulips Redux

I’m giving tulips another try. I’ve laid a wire mesh (similar to chicken coop wire) down to deter any intrepid bulb-eaters and diggers from upsetting the bed. My High Country Gardens order arrived last week, and I’m just now getting to planting them. I’ve decided on the middle rear bed to house my tulip ambitions. Twelve each of Tulipa bakeri and Tulipa humilis are sharing the bed with Eye of the Tiger Dutch irises, about 4 or 5 Muscari botryoides ‘Album’, and 3 large bulbs of Allium karativiense ‘Ivory Queen’. Flanking each end of the bed stand a white salvia greggii and a transplanted salvia microphylla Hot Lips, sparsely leafed after surviving the dry summer heat. I’ve left some room for a rosemary bush to keep the greggii company, and I plan on adding Muscari armeniacum and at least 6 Allium christophii to the mix. I’m still exploring more plants to populate this Cool-in-the-Shade White and Blue garden, especially since the current flower selection consists of early spring bloomers.