Tulips

 I have had a few tulips in the landscape over the years.  Tulips are so beautiful and easy to care for, but they are number one on the deer snack list.  If you have deer anywhere near your garden there is just no way you are ever going to see a tulip bloom.  Buds - yes.  But those long awaited buds will be eaten the night before they open up. Almost every time. Therefore they must either go in containers that can be kept behind a fence until they bloom or in the vegetable garden which is sufficiently protected.    

Back in 2021 I planted a bed of tulips.  They turned out absolutely gorgeous, but I did not indulge myself last fall, so no pretty blooms this spring.  I was still a little burned out last fall when Tulip Ordering Season rolled around so I just skipped it.  But in the spring I really missed having them.  Fall planted bulbs, and tulips in particular, are one of those things that you really have to plan ahead for.  You can plant daffodils and crocus and snow drops and almost every other bulb you can think of and they will naturalize and come back year after year and spread and give you a great return.  But most varieties of tulips do not come back reliably. I may get 30% returning each spring on a downward spiral until there are no more left at all.  And they are just too wonderful to do without.

Chardonnay Blend

I think all colors of tulips are lovely, but around the vegetable garden area I always stick to a hot color pallet of red, orange and yellow.  The Chardonnay blend above caught my eye a couple of years ago.  Colorblends only sells them in batches of 500, and I only want to deal with 150-200 bulbs.  So I went with a smaller amount of a similar blend...

Celebration Blend

... and added a white variety.  Now this may not work out perfectly.  The bloom times might not sync up as well as what Colorblends would have put together, but we'll give it a try because that was what was available.

Maureen

I also LOVE double (peony style) tulips.  So I am trying these.

Moris Gudanov

I had a little more room left, so I caved in and ordered a few of the my favorite from last year.

Double Late Gudoshnik

So the tulip bulbs are planted in a raised bed with Tulip Tone and in the spring when everything else is dull and bare, we can look forward to a bright and cheery bed full of vibrant color.  And then I will be happy that I put in the planning and effort.