SURVIVORS: IVG Garden 2007

Well folks, those who've been listening patiently to my wailing and moaning the past few weeks know only too much about the recent very cold snap we've been having here. Right after I got going on posting the first spring bulbs, our weather took a very cold turn (lows in the low teens at night!), and what at first looked to be a banner year for the tulips, daffodils and other bulbs soon turned out to be a near washout. Or freeze-out, I should perhaps say... The front garden especially has taken a pretty bad hit and we're not sure how it's all going to turn out, despite the recent (e.g. yesterday and today!) upturn in the weather. I'm just not sure at this point how much we will be able to save, though the late emerging bulbs look to be coming out of this relatively unscathed.

To wit ... our bleeding hearts were up about a foot before the record cold set in ... and now they look like spent, limp spaghetti. Same with the columbines .... even the sea holly is looking rather worse for wear, but I do think they will eventually pull out of it ... I hope. And, with the recent arrival of better weather, I hope to be able to report more positive news in the coming weeks.

But for today ... the real tough survivors are the dwarf tulips (Tulipa, "Persian Pearl") and some of our hyacinths... these are the only ones I've seen up yet, though there are about 9 others on the north side I've not seen emerge yet. So here's what I got today ... these dwarf tulips are really fun to have in the garden, and unlike their bigger cousins, you don't have to plant them so deep it takes a shovel... and they appear to spread a bit, as I swear there are more there this year than there were last! Unfortunately, they don't last as long as the Darwins we prefer, but for sheer diminutive stopping power, these little guys are hard to beat! They're a perfect planting companion for Muscari ("Grape Hyacinths"), and also look pretty kicking with the hyacinths too! And since they all bloom at about the same time, and with a little imaginationyou could get some really interesting color combinations!

And of course, what would a tulip post be without the ubiquitous inner bits for Olivia? They may be a bit on the waning side of things, but they're alive! And that's what really is counting for us of late ...

In the next few days I'm going to be posting some of last year's spring glories (for obvious weather related reasons), so stay tuned for even more brilliant color. Olivia and I are going to be doing a joint posting soon on one of my very favorite tulips ... "Olympic Flame" so do check back soon for that in a day or so!

It looks like our Crown Imperial fritillarias may not make it this year ... but I'll keep you posted, so to speak!