Old, Old Tulips

One of my neighbours is the photographer behind the Tulip Anthology book which celebrates the wonderful image of the tulip. The book is lovely and showcases Ron’s amazing photography beautifully. As part of the preparation for the book he sourced and grew some rare tulip varieties. Some of them dating back to 1780.

Since he doesn’t have to room to grow them in his own garden he asked me if I would be the custodian of the bulbs. Of course I said yes. And today he brought them around for me.

I normally grow Tulips as part of my productive garden. And to be honest they are usually what I can get from the local nursery. But these are special. Even their names sound special. They are all Rembrandt type tulips. One of the oldest is Absalon, which is a dark chocolatey brown with yellow swirls. Also included is a tulip called Insulinde which looks like satin ribbons. And The Lizard and Columbine

I’m more than a little nervous about growing them. I feel like I’ve been entrusted with the equivalent of a diamond necklace. I shall be treating them like royalty and guarding them well against those pesky squirrels. Ron’s tip for planting was to add some horticultural sand to the soil for drainage and sprinkle the bottom of the planting bed with bonemeal. I’ll be doing both of these and keeping my fingers crossed for some gorgeous blooms come Springtime.

Category: Flowers     Tagged: ,

5 Comments on “Old, Old Tulips”

  2. hello and welcome to the states!
    i have been reading your sweet little blog for awhile, but i think this might be my first time commenting.
    I just had to give you some unsolicited advice about squirrels and tulip bulbs.
    I had this problem several years ago, and even though i planted my bulbs deep, the squirrels dug them all up and ate them.
    They ate them while lounging on a low hanging branch of an oak tree right outside of my kitchen window. Oh, darn those squirrels!!!
    Anyway, you might think about putting your bulbs in wire cages before you plant them, since they are as precious as they are. I sure wish i had!!
    Lots of luck- and please don’t hold my butting in against me!
    Rana

  4. What a wonderful neighbor you have!
    Those tulips are going to be absolutely amazing!
    Lea
    Lea’s Menagerie

  5. All the tulips are in – I left some of the rotted ones out so that the squirrels could eat them in the other part of the garden. Maybe that put them off the scent!