Showing posts with label tulips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tulips. Show all posts
Sunday 9 November 2014
Sunday 2 November 2014
The beauty of apricot-colored tulips
Sometimes, my screen around "plants that work for a living" includes plants that bring joy.
Tulips are in that category.
They're totally "useless" in their cultivated form for anything beyond that (not producing nectar, feeding insects, etc.), unless you count feeding deer. In nature, species tulips undoubtedly had many ecological roles, but cultivated tulips, not many, except being pretty.
Nonetheless, I've loved them since I first saw the tulip displays near the Jefferson Memorial, in the Washington, DC tidal basin area, many years ago.
And they were among the first plants I planted as a newbie gardener over three decades ago, not long after that. I planted red tulips in a triangular block next to our gate to the backyard.
And potted tulips have long been a Valentine's Day staple, although cyclamens have supplanted them in recent years.
So these lovely apricot-colored tulips, grown in Virginia (which count as regional, I guess), appealed to me and my gardening companion yesterday.
Tulips are in that category.
They're totally "useless" in their cultivated form for anything beyond that (not producing nectar, feeding insects, etc.), unless you count feeding deer. In nature, species tulips undoubtedly had many ecological roles, but cultivated tulips, not many, except being pretty.
Nonetheless, I've loved them since I first saw the tulip displays near the Jefferson Memorial, in the Washington, DC tidal basin area, many years ago.
And they were among the first plants I planted as a newbie gardener over three decades ago, not long after that. I planted red tulips in a triangular block next to our gate to the backyard.
And potted tulips have long been a Valentine's Day staple, although cyclamens have supplanted them in recent years.
So these lovely apricot-colored tulips, grown in Virginia (which count as regional, I guess), appealed to me and my gardening companion yesterday.
Thursday 1 May 2014
Spring
Here in Ohio, we have had a strange one. Everything is so Late 3 weeks ago we got SNOW!
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And things were just starting to come up too. look at these baby radishes! Just covered with snow!
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My helleborus looks so beautiful with a drop of melting snow on it.
The tulips also took the snow well. but look at the backyard!
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Finally I had to go to the nursery and relieve my winter blues! Dills Greenhouse, is a great little nursery that is locally owned and has such genius little ideas, plus Look at all of these summer tropicals!
Sunday 14 April 2013
Trees with shadows
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| view of trees from Biltmore |
Yesterday, the sun's angle in the late afternoon created crisp shadows -- in dark contrast to the green of newly-mown pasture. This view from the terrace at Biltmore is spectacular at any time of year, now with the soft greens of emerging leaves on the Blue Ridge mountains beyond.
We'd gone to the Biltmore gardens to see how the tulips were coming along in the Walled Garden. This week's warmth turned out to have been excellent encouragement!
I always love seeing the tulips, one of my first horticultural loves (even if they don't exactly "work for a living" -- my primary screen for plant selection -- meaning wildlife-supporting or edible, but they certainly have a good story (special dispensation for that!)
These trees and the view were even more spectacular.
Posted with BlogsyFriday 22 February 2013
Tulips are emerging
Hmm, if I'd been energetic (which I'm not, still recovering from a bad cold), I'd have pictures of the tulips emerging in front of our house in the mountains.
We didn't plant them, the previous owner (and designer of our small house) did. He wasn't a gardener, at all, but his tulips have been lovely over the last springs. The colors coordinate with our house -- how nice is that!
This was last year's post about their appearance.
The tulip foliage looks great and robust so far --we'll see what the flowers are like this year.
This is what they looked like a couple of years ago.
We didn't plant them, the previous owner (and designer of our small house) did. He wasn't a gardener, at all, but his tulips have been lovely over the last springs. The colors coordinate with our house -- how nice is that!
This was last year's post about their appearance.
The tulip foliage looks great and robust so far --we'll see what the flowers are like this year.
This is what they looked like a couple of years ago.
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| Tulips at the base of the house |
Monday 19 April 2010
My New Career Adveture
I know that it has been a long time since I have updated the blog. This past quarter threw me for a loop! I am now just getting back on tract! But I did get all A's in my classes! Yay for me. This quarter i
s so much easier than last (anything would be easier in comparison.). Its a good thing too. Why, y
ou may ask. Because, i got a new job. Not just any new job! A new job at a garden center. It is a really awesome place too. I kinda float around, either at the register or in the green house. I like it this way, because I can still experience life in the greenhouse with the plants, but also with the customers. A good medium for me. Plus I get a discount! I like the sound of that. They have me working a lot here, I don't mind though. Since school isn't so hard, it gives me a chance to get some extra cash so that I can pay for the next couple of quarters. I also get the chance to rescue plants that would end up in the trash, bring them back to life, and plant them in my yard! Fun. So that is where I stand. I am actually writing this at school (shows you how much extra time I have), and all I can think about is going outside to be in my yard...I need to get pics before all the tulips are done bl
oom
ing.Wednesday 8 April 2009
Spring Update
So, just as an update on the who camera issue, I did get the Nikon D90. My dad got for me as a going-away present. I have had a lot of fun experimenting with it and the 2 lenses that I got with it. I am really liking the fact that I can adjust the aperture on the camera. I do, though, have to buy a micro lens. I can get into fairly close to the objects, but not as close as I would like. If you have any suggestions on one I should get, please let me know.
Okay, so now for what I was going to tell everyone. You may have wondered why I said my parents
got the camera for me as a going-away present. Well, this whole summer and part of fall, I am going to be leaving my home, garden, and birds for a farm. I will be interning on a all organic cattle and produce and am extremely excited. The farm is called Flying J Farm, and is located near Johnstown, Ohio. You all should come and visit me. I am terrible with directions, so don't even try asking for them. Instead, just go to his website, and get the Google map. So that is all the excitement for me right now. I will be leaving next Wednesday, so wish me luck. I don't know how often I will be posting, since I would think I will be pretty busy, but I will try my best to keep you updated on my adventures on the farm.
The tulips are blooming right now. Not all of them, not even half, just the early ones. Two different types of tulips are blooming. They are Flaming Purissima, and Darwin Tulips. I couldn't find my tags for the Darwin tulips, but could for the Purissima. The Purissima grows 18in tall and blooms in early spring. They are pale pink with vainage of dark pink. Really beautiful.
P.S. A lot of people have asked me where they could get the copper looking bird feeder in my post on Safflower Seeds. I originally got it at Park's Seeds for $9.72. But they must of discontinued it, because I cannot find it on their site. I did a quick Google and found the same on on the online store, Birds-n-Gardens.
~Next post on Rain Barrels~