Though spring bulbs are not part of a traditional Japanese garden (with the exception of Irises), this will not stop me from planting bulbs would it?
A couple of years ago I have ordered a large batch of tulips, which I spent a whole miserable November day planting (I do have clay soil, so I had to enlist the help of my other half digging the holes).
The first year's display was spectacular, but this year I had a miserable display, with only few bulbs cuming up. Digging up 100 tulips is not my idea of time well spent, so I have opted this year for two batches:
- Species Tulips - which are supposed to naturalise (we will see about that ...).
- Some more conventional varieties which I will be planting in pots, taking them out at the end of the season and storing for the following winter.
The species I will be trying out are:
- Tulipa clusiana 'Cynthia' AGM - Slender, creamy-yellow flowers, with red marks on the outside, appear in mid-spring, 30cm tall.
- Tulip 'Lady Jane' - White flowers, striped rosy-red on the outer sepals – peer inside and spot the yellow centre. Grows to 30cm.
- Tulipa tarda - Flowering in early and mid-spring, the white, star-shaped flowers, often tinged green, are usually yellow on the lower half, grows to 15cm.
I will be reporting on their preformence in due course. I will be writing a nother post on the hybrid tulips I will be trying out.
P.S - AGM - Award of Garden Merit awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society to well performing plants.
