The first Tulips are opening already. I’m sure that is a little earl but I don’t care as I adore tulips
However, I have discovered, when going to write this post, that my record keeping is beyond useless. I wanted to know the name of this tulip which I planted last Autumn. I looked at my emails for a confirmation order email from Peter Nyssen, the suppliers, no I had deleted and tidied my inbox up. I even looked through my paperwork for the receipt or delivery note – nope, nowhere to be seen and I know that I only threw the catalog the other week when I was clearing out a drawer looking for something else. See tidying up is obviously a bad thing to do!
Having looked at Peter Nyssen’s website I think this is Apricot Beauty, it certainly sounds familiar. The information says that it flowers Early to Late April which is the whole of April really so if this is the case the flowers are only a few weeks early which isn’t surprising given the unseasonably warm weather we have had recently. 23C here today when it should be something like 13C.
I have developed quite a passion for tulips in recent years although I prefer them in the border to planted up in pots. I leave mine in year on year and add new bulbs to different parts of the garden each year. It is true that in some cases the quality of the flowers deteriorates year on year but then I either add more or replace them.
This year it was the turn of the Cottage Garden Border to be tuliped. I chose three varieties and there is a strong possibility that they were Apricot Beauty, Spring Green and Ivory Florade though looking again it might be Apricot Impression that is flowering now. How very annoying. I do know that there were already some Princess Irene in the border which have probably been there for four years now and are doing quite well.
My botanical artist’s eye is really drawn to the colouring and detailing of the flowers particularly the buds. When you really look there are so many colours in there. Thinking about it I might take a few more photos of these tulips so that I can use them in the future for one of my paintings. One of the ladies in my class is currently working on a wonderful painting of a bunch of red and yellow striped tulips, a little garish for me, but tulips certainly form a wonderful elegant subject.
I will now wait to see if the other tulips in the Cottage Garden Border actually look as I think they should – I do love a mystery
