Species Tulips: Little Beauty

A viewing tip for the photos: Most of you may already know that I include a higher resolution, larger photo of everything I post here, and I encourage everyone to either click through or open photos in another window (or tab if you use Firefox) to see much more detail than the version posted on this page. You'll be glad you did....

You'll recognize this lovely species tulip "Little Beauty" from last Friday's "Bloomfest" preview of coming floriferous attractions. But it definitely deserves its own post, don't you think? As I noted previously, these were a freebie I got with a large order of bulbs and at first I was dubious about whether I'd like them or not ... I just thought the whole idea of red white and blue flowers has been a bit overdone (ever notice the specifically designed "patriotic" combos sold in plant catalogues?), but now after having them perform for us so magnificently over the past four years, I'm a believer! Especially when they morphed into those orange throwbacks, mutants or whatever you want to call them. We're both delighted to have them gracing the area in the front boulder bed adjoining the steps....

This first bloom seems a bit coquettish to me for some reason, as if she's beckoning the viewer to get closer but still maintaining a modestly chaste distance....

This bloom, however, has no qualms about showing off all she's got to offer, and wow she's got some set of stamens going on in there! I do declare, Fernymoss did a stellar job on these photos, and in the larger versions, you can even see the individual grains of pollen! We just love being able to get macro shots that reveal that level of detail in an individual bloom, because often we can see how much variation there can be from flower to flower....

I just liked this ensemble shot of both the orange and reds together ... they make quite a contrast, and I find it fascinating how even in the orange "mutants" you can see the linkage of color to the original cultivar when you compare the blues at the center of the blooms. And you get a bonus flaming pansy in this shot too!

Growing these species tulips is really pretty foolproof, as long as you can provide them with a good loamy, well drained soil in a sunny position (ours get morning eastern sun and early afternoon southern sun). I've often seen them recommended for rock gardens with lower growing plants, and as seen in the previous photo I posted, they make an excellent companion to Grape Hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) because their bloom times coincide. I think they'd look wonderful with the Iris Reticulata (Dwarf Iris), except that the Irises are long gone before these little guys bloom. In fact, in previous years I've wondered if these died off because the "Persian Pearl" variety we also have planted has bloomed and gone before we see these. It's merely a matter of a staggered bloom time, which actually, I think is a nice feature. Just when you're missing the "Persian Pearls" the "Little Beauties" march on to the stage for their moment in the sun....

I got more of our bulb order in the mail today ... the Mixed Caladiums arrived, so now we've got even more bulbs that need to go into pots this weekend! I haven't grown Caladiums since I was in college and these will be a first for the garden here at Casa IVG, where we plan on placing them in shady spots (like under the spruce in back) where we want a splash of color. At least having them in pots will spare us the hassle of digging them up in the fall to bring in! So the time spent now potting them will save us time and effort later... It looks like our Fancy Cannas are on backorder, so I hope they get here in a reasonable amount of time to allow for them to get in the ground and do their thing. But on the other hand, the area we have planned for them is not cleared out yet, so we've got time ... we decided to try to eradicate that inherited Lysimachia ciliata ('Firecracker') that is trying to take over the northeast boulder bed out front. It's just gotten too aggressive where it is and since our planting space is already at a premium and dwindling every year, we just can't justify it anymore. Though it is very pretty, it needs to be at least brought under control this year (last year it was the Zebrina Mallow ... it's always something!). Anyway, once that's gone, we're going to put a 'Carmencita' Red Castor and the cannas in that spot as a specimen showcase ... hopefully this scheme will actually happen!

Poor Hanna ... she had to spend the day inside with me when it was sunny and nice outside, but by the time I was able to quit for the day, a line of thunderstorms was moving in quickly, which not only thwarted my plans to get a few Delphiniums planted, but also dashed her hopes of getting out for a walkie today! We had some thundershowers for several hours tonight, nothing serious, which was welcome, even if they came at an inopportune time....

We continue to congratulate ourselves for picking out such a great new toy for Hanna ... she absolutely loves this Monster Mouth! Even when it's not loaded with treats (as it is in this shot), she loves playing with it and having us toss it around. One nice feature about it is that it has a very irregular and unpredictable bounce to it, so if we deliberately bounce it off a wall, she has to really scramble and watch to retrieve it. The Kongs do that as well, but this one has really captured her attention at the moment and one of these days we'll finally get a shot of her head on walking around with it in her mouth with the teeth showing (it's hilarious!), but so far we haven't been able to capture this yet. You'll know it when we do....

Lysimachia: A Lovely Thug

Sometimes when you inherit plants from well intentioned, yet less informed gardeners than oneself, well, sometimes you're not quite sure what to expect. The friend from the neighborhood who initially gave us a clump of this Lysimachia ciliata 'Purpurea,' swore that it was 'Yellow Bee Balm,' something that we, of course had never heard of, though we were intrigued and said 'sure!' I'm sure that regular readers are chuckling by now at how anyone could mistake this for Monarda ... it's not even a mint (it's in the Primulaceae family!), though it has many of the semi-invasive properties of the mints (of which, of course Monarda is a member as well). Are you scared yet? Actually, you shouldn't be, because this Lysimachia is aggressive, but controllable. In fact, in the very near future it's going to be controlled to about half its current spread. We've had a few people express interest in taking some home and I sure wish they'd get here with their shovels soon, or they're going to be out of luck, because one way or another, this plant is getting seriously thinned out this year. We're not engaged in full scale annihilation (as with the Heliopsis, but more on that later), because we really do like this plant, but we just don't have the space for it to take over.
So now, after having damned this plant with faint praise, I should highlight the numerous good points about Lysimachia ciliata. Obviously, it's a tough attractive plant that requires virtually no attention ... so for certain growing situations, it's a really good choice. But for the more space-challenged gardener, one needs to be ready to be as aggressive about thinning it out as it is about spreading out expansively. For a thug, though, it sure is lovely ... with its purple-burgundy colored foliage (the intensity depends on how much sun it gets) and simple yellow flowers in profusion. When we first got this in 2004, we needed plants to fill out the recently opened up gardening spaces ... but we didn't quite expect this one to settle in so quickly. This would make a great fence line plant for a sunny situation, where it could within a few years line it ... but in our front gardens where we prefer to highlight some of our more dramatic performers, it has gradually become a bit of a pest, thus the imminent thinning out.

It's all part of the gentle taming of our (self-described) Savage Cottage Garden style of doing things around here ... we're willing to let some rogues in on the space, but we definitely reserve the right to determine appropriate boundaries. Keeping this in mind when planting this Lysimachia, should, I hope, put this all into perspective. Lots of positives and pretty, but caveat emptor! A lot of what we have is going to the compost soon, but that's not a reason to banish this one from the garden entirely. It will remain, however, a bit diminished in scope...