Get ready for tulip season
In spite of the gifts Mother Nature freely offers to us, some
can’t resist playing with her color palette. Pink calla lilies are
now fairly common and so are blue potatoes.
The big surprises this year are black tulips, pink daffodils and
golden grape hyacinths. They are appearing in the bulb bins at
local nurseries and in bulb catalogs that arrive in the mail or
appear on the Internet. These spring-flowering bulbs go into the
ground through November and produce flowers when the soil warms in
spring.
Get ready for tulip season
In spite of the gifts Mother Nature freely offers to us, some can’t resist playing with her color palette. Pink calla lilies are now fairly common and so are blue potatoes.
The big surprises this year are black tulips, pink daffodils and golden grape hyacinths. They are appearing in the bulb bins at local nurseries and in bulb catalogs that arrive in the mail or appear on the Internet. These spring-flowering bulbs go into the ground through November and produce flowers when the soil warms in spring.
Perhaps gardeners are like George Bernard Shaw who once said, “As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.”
But who would want a black tulip?
Likely plenty of people.
Gardeners may use them in color-themed flower beds or as a surprise nestled amid a container of red tulips. Florists use them in color-coordinated floral arrangements. They’ve shown up in bridesmaid bouquets.
Children will accept them without thought, just like they delight in making grass blue or the sky green in their coloring books.
Ever since Alexander Dumas published his 1850 romance “The Black Tulip,” breeders have been seeking the perfect black tulip. Despite its name, black tulips aren’t really black: They are varying shades of very deep purple.
Who cares? Today’s black tulips are black enough to fool the eye and thrill the gardener. Varieties that are readily available are Queen of the Night, Black Parrot, Nearly Black and Black Hero.
If black tulips aren’t to your liking, how about pink daffodils?
Known in the trade as novelty daffodils, there are also red, coral, green and, soon, Dutch hybridizers promise, there will be a lavender one.
The first pink daffodils were introduced to the gardening public in 1923. Now there are numerous pinks among the daffodils, but they are fairly rare to home gardens.
Some are more pink than others. The color pink shows up in the cup or trumpet-shaped outgrowth. The back part of the flower is usually white or cream.
It’s hard to find unusual-colored daffodils at the garden center where the traditional yellows and white prevail as top sellers. Try the Web sites or garden catalogs of Breck’s bulbs (www.brecks.com, (513) 354-1511), which offers the Pink Collection of five each of five different bulbs. A Google search for “pink daffodils”) shows other options.
Popular this year are the grape hyacinths that go beyond cobalt blue. Dutch hybridizers have fiddled with the muscari family so they come in a range of color from white to sapphire blue edged in white and, a newcomer called “Golden Fragrance.” This newbie is golden yellow, capped with purple, and has a fragrance reminiscent of gardenias and bananas.
Plant these and other spring-flowering bulbs through November. They like full sun or partial shade, good drainage, and no weeds. Once in the ground and planted at the right depth, they need no further care.
Plant a Row for the Hungry: Garden harvest is slowing down, thanks to the subtle changes in the weather. But more vegetables showed up at Community Pantry his week, thanks to Plant a Row for the Hungry gardeners.
The pounds of food donated continue to rise, some weeks more than others. So far this year, PAR gardeners have shared 12,228 pounds of fresh produce to share with those in the community who need it most.
The Pantry is located at 30 Airport Ave., Hollister. For more information, call (831) 637-0340.
