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Articles - Tulips
Tulips
I love saying something as elitist as "When I was in Holland earlier this year...." I hope I'm forgiven since this was my first visit looking at the birthplace of bulbs. I was appropriately astonished and can say definitively that anyone who loves bulbs should try to get there during the season. Greed and envy were apparent during the trip and I further understand how easy it is to go insane over these wonderful plants.
The latter happened at the Keukenhof, the premiere bulb garden of the world. Imagine acres of nothing but bulbs put together in new and dazzling ways. Here's where plants are put on trial, where wholesalers can see what will be available in a few years. And where you can become inspired to extremes of design.
Good old red and yellow tulips were to be seen by the hundreds of thousands out in the fields but inside the garden they were far outnumbered by more glamourous cousins: Tulips with so much frippery you won't recognize them as such; colours far beyond the rainbow; and every form of stripe known to hybridizers.
Many of the new huge tulips bred to look like peonies made me long for the old-fashioned kind. Some of the stripes were lovely, others vulgar; much of the parroting and fringing is too ornate to be terribly useful in a border. But there were so many others to charm the visitor it didn't matter.
I've always believed you should plant as many bulbs as it's possible to afford every year. The lavishness at this garden attests to the sense of this point of view. I used to think in hundreds, now I see the wisdom of thousands. But it's up to gardeners to translate this into something reasonably domestic.
I've been quite happy with mingey little edgings of blue muscari and small yellow narcissus. But they look like droppings compared with what's possible by putting in masses of each. It's a knockout. So I'll try something on much smaller scale -- six or seven deep of each species -- with just as stunning an effect as the rivers of these plants the Keukenhof uses.
Another idea I'll emulate, even though it means doing battle with the squirrels, is using a gorgeous deep maroon-black tulip called 'Queen of Night'. It will accompany magenta-toned heucheras, or frothy silver artemisias and, especially, side by side with my all-time favourite narcissus the crisp white 'Thalia'.
I'm also going to use this purple and white combo with the dozens of Allium aflatunense 'Purple Sensation' I planted last year. They looked fabulous popping up among and leaning against shrubs and tall perennials. Another grace note will be Nectaroscardom siculum (formerly A. bulbaricum) with its bell-shaped purpley-brown flowers dripping off the end of a 45 cm stem looks amazing with euphorbias.
The more I looked at the little narcissus at the Keukenhof, the more I realized how useful they are for small gardens. Some, such as 'Quail' and 'Baby Moon', are scented; others like 'Pipit', 'Hawera' and 'Tete-a-Tete' have an utterly exquisite pale yellow colour. Then there's the creamy white of 'Jenny' or the white perianths and yellow cups of 'Minnow', both delicate and charming.
Among the other bulbs I loved from last year (and getting more this year) are Camassia, a North American native with soft blue flowers that grow to 45 cm. Fritillerias continue to delight notably F. persica which has flower spikes with deep purple-violet bells along a 45 cm stem. Leucojum aestivum, Spring Snowflake, with its pure white bells tipped in green is a welcome early spring visitor.
When I returned from the trip, perhaps over-exposed to fields of them, I wanted to get rid of the red and yellow tulips that seem to find their way into the garden in all the wrong spots (squirrels, failing memory?). I ripped them out once they'd finished yellowing off and placed them well away from the deck.
It's time to order bulbs from catalogues now and to pick them up at the nursery soon. Most bulbs can be planted right up until hard frost. If, in this time of freaky weather, there's a frost before the bulbs arrive go ahead and prepare beds as usual. Keep the thawed soil aside until ready to plant then proceed as usual.
And speaking of squirrels, another way to fend them off I'm told is to hang little bags of pepper near tulip beds. It will make animals sneeze but cause no damage to their noses. I have a new generation in my backyard that's so bold, so totally unafraid of dogs, brooms and my screaming I expect it will be a lively autumn.
The Keukenhof is open from the end of March to the end of May. Next year is its 100th anniversary and there is an exciting new extension to the garden. For more information call the Netherlands Board of Tourism, 416-363-1577 (or check the internet, www.visitholland.com, for more information.
Copyright Marjorie Harris, 2005
CONTACT MARJORIE HARRIS
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