So, me and my besties HelenandCarolineandJane went to Oxford for the day. Most of the time we walked around admiring the scenery and keeping our energy levels up by eating cake, none of which is at all interesting to you lovely Gardening People. But I think that you ought to know that we went to the Covered Market and found an impressive display of bulbs for sale at The Garden. I was wringing my hands, quite unable to decide which colour of double anemones to buy and whether to try Ranunculus for the first time when Helen spotted a man who was carefully filling paper bags and writing the details on the bags. This charming man was persuaded to give a masterclass in selecting bulbs for a continuous display from January to June with dynamic colour combinations and interesting contrasts in height and form. It was all very inspirational and Helen decided to go large on a pink theme while Caroline bought a selection of purple tulips. I was rather crushed to hear our mentor say a categoric No to orange Tulips because I have toyed with the idea of a bold statement in orange. I think I need to review this because he obviously knew what he was talking about.
What?!! No to orange tulips?!! Why? I love orange tulips. Some of them are scented. They make my heart swell with pleasure. I love most tulips, though, apart from yellow. Not fond of yellow. Walking around stopping for cake sounds perfect.
ReplyDelete*wails* Oh no!!! Yellow was going to be my second choice. What to do??
DeleteYou cannot go wrong with T. Ballerina. It also returns year after year like T. Purissima. Go for it. I have Anemone Meron to plant, a dark wine-red colour. I bought 20 corms in Waitrose for £3. I think they would look spectacular with orange tulips.
ReplyDeleteThank you for these fabulous tips. I have never been very successful with tulips and so any advice is welcome.
DeleteYou garden, your rules!
ReplyDeleteI humbly acknowledge my novice status and am always grateful for advice and guidance.
Deleteyellow ...
ReplyDeleteI bought four Gazanias labelled clear yeloow
and they're not. They are an evil stop the traffic tangerine.
No tulips here, but Ballerina sounds familiar from happy garden bloggers.
Is there anything more vexing than a plant which is mis-labelled? I once had a geranium that was supposed to be a clear apple blossom pink but was soon discovered to be a brash salmon pink. It was moved to a dark part of the garden.
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