One in Adelphi, Maryland, one in Wildwood, Florida, one at the US National Arboretum with a grandfatherly interest in many more around the DC area (unless noted, pictures are taken the day of post)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday was the best day of the year so far!
And so, we covered some ground. I visited some old gardens and some current clients and generally enjoyed spring in Washington, which is not so extravagantly acclaimed as spring in Paris, but is still a great experience. This is a wonderful city for trees and gardens.
Tulips were everywhere; this is a good year for them with adequate moisture and cool soil and air temperatures. I do love mass plantings, but leave them to gardens with deep pockets. They really do need to be pulled out every year because the inevitable incremental decline is so obvious in a large planting. The number of flowers usually shrinks and the size almost always shrinks. Still, if you plant them in clumps, this isn't such a problem. Dig a hole a foot or so in diameter and dump in a dozen bulbs. It'll be great the next spring and if it's a bit less impressive the following year that'll be okay. I've had clumps that were still attractive after 5 years. There are lists and lists of "perennial" tulips, that is varieties that don't decline, but I don't know....our summers are just a bit too hot, too humid, and too wet to optimize tulip performance.
Having said that, I must admit that there are species tulips that increase in number, seeding around, and forming bigger clumps by offsets. They have a delicate beauty and I grow them but they're not the same as the large-flowered gaudy varieties!
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