Today is brought to you by the letter ‘T’ – for Tulips and Together

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Mominthegarden

Double late Mount Tacoma tulip

Hi there! Welcome to my blog, where I’ll chat about just about anything, but I will always have pictures of flowers. I hope you are keeping well during this pandemic. Life is really crazy, isn’t it? For some, it is mostly an inconvenience to have to stay home. But for so many, it is much, much more. For that reason, I struggled for a long time about blogging. I don’t want to make light of a situation which is quite dire for so many. But I’ve also discovered that it is really important for us to have our breaks away from ‘everything Covid-19’. I’m also sure, if we conducted a study which measured people’s feelings after showing them pictures of flowers, that there would be a huge improvement in their mood. Don’t you think so, too? So it is a public service that I’m offering to lift spirits! 🙂

Did you notice my little nod to the children’s program ‘Sesame Street’ with my title? It always makes me smile when I hear references to sweet things from my childhood. I hope it made you smile! (Apologies if you haven’t seen Sesame Street, making my title a bit strange indeed.) The main star in the garden right now are my tulips. We’ve been so fortunate to have had such a mild and sunny April. Sometimes the tulips really get a beating with the wind and rain – but not this year. So I’ve managed to get a few (hundred?!) pictures. Of course, there are many sides to a flower – when it is sunny they open right up, first thing in the morning they are closed, and then there is the ‘in between’ phase. I don’t have a favorite, as I think every phase is beautiful. Please do enjoy the pictures I’ve put together for you.

Take care! Remember, we are in this together.

In Peace,
Dana

inside the Pretty Princess tulip

Pretty Princess tulips are a bright, happy pink color!

Pretty Princess tulips facing the sun, which shows the different shades of the colors

The bright, cheerful colors of the Pretty Princess tulips are balanced in the same flower bed with the darker color of the Queen of the night tulips. The Queen of the night tulips are a deep purple, and are not a typical color that I would gravitate to – but I LOVE the color!

inside the Queen of the night tulip

Queen of the night tulips

Queen of the night tulips are a rich, deep purple color

Orange is also a color that I wouldn’t usually pick for flowers. But these Ballerina tulips are one of my favorite varieties! I like the subtlety of the different colors, and their beautiful shape. Boy, do they shout for attention, too – no matter where they are in the yard!

A very sunny day for the Ballerina tulip to open fully

Ballerina tulip slightly opened

a single Ballerina tulip – this is my favorite picture of this flower

The Fringed tulip Swan wings is a pure white variety with spiky edging. It is stunning. Unfortunately, this is the only one left of the ten I planted a number of years ago. It is tucked behind a small group of creamy white tulips called Spring Green.

the inside of Fringed tulip Swan wings

Fringed tulip Swan wings

the inside of Spring Green tulips and the single Swan Wings tulip

Tulip Spring Green

a mostly closed Tulip Spring Green

There is a strong pink theme throughout my garden. All shades of pink! This Merlot tulip has found its way into two of my flower beds, as I love the color.

inside Tulip Merlot

Merlot tulip slightly open

Merlot tulip closed

this one always reminds me of cotton candy!

the anemone are still blooming throughout the garden

a single tulip surrounded by anemone Mr. Fokker

The Parrot tulip is so unusual, but has always been one I have liked. No surprise that it is pink!

inside the pink Parrot tulip

a single, closed pink Parrot tulip

That’s it from me! I hope you enjoyed yourself! 🙂

I’m sending you best wishes, all bundled up warm in my garden! I hope I’ve made you smile!

2019 was full of Flowers, Fowl, and Fun

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Mominthegarden

Snowdrops in January

Hellebore Frilly Isabelle in February

Happy (almost) New Year! What a joy it has been looking through pictures of this past year while putting together this blog post! I love taking pictures and capturing what is happening in the garden, and it is nice to then go back and see what changes there were in the garden throughout the course of the year. The garden is always in a state of flux and growth. The biggest change to the garden this year, though, was the addition of chickens. I adore having them as pets. The Long Island Red (hybrid) chickens joined our family in March, at 23 weeks. They each started laying one egg a day a couple of weeks later and have continued ever since. Their house and run now take up a large part of our back garden, where I can watch them from our kitchen.

There have been other changes in the garden, too. In one of my lavender beds, I removed a large plant that I have never been a fan of (name unknown). What a great feeling it was to get rid of it! In its place, I added a fig tree. My love of evergreen trees continues, with the addition of a small one, Picea pungens ‘Super Blue’, to the garden this year.

Plants and shrubs were added to a few of the beds around the yard. I like making these small changes, which of course add up over time.

My two rose beds have also had more David Austin roses added to the collection. The boxwood (box) hedge in the newest rose bed is doing really well and slowly filling in. This is exciting to see because we grew all of these plants from cuttings. “Yay!” for successful ways to save money in the garden!

We had quite a fruitful crop of apples and pears this year! Lucky enough, we didn’t have any major storms to knock down the fruit prematurely from the trees, as has happened in the past. (And they tasted delicious!)

I’m thankful for our harvest of garlic, too. There is nothing nicer than homegrown garlic!

My crop of sweet pea smelled simply amazing this year. I was able to cut bouquet after bouquet of pretty, sweet smelling flowers for weeks.

Like Sweet pea, Sunflowers have been a staple in the garden for the past number of years, and I plan to continue with that tradition.

Not all was pretty in the garden this year though. My Incrediball Hydrangea started the season off well, but finished with a burnt look from, apparently, too much sun. I will move it to a shady spot this year.

Another section of the back garden has become quite overrun by weeds – in a very bad way! And therein lies my challenge for 2020!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the garden, photographing it and writing about it. I hope you have also enjoyed it.

I’m very excited to see what the garden brings in 2020!

Thank you so much for being a part of my gardening and blogging experience! I have had visitors to my blog from all over the world, and I’m so glad you’ve stopped by. Please do feel free to write a note, especially from where you are from. I’d love to e-meet you! 🙂

I wish you all best wishes for a wonderful and healthy New Year! May 2020 be everything you hope it to be!

In Peace,
Dana

Garlic in February

Cleared out lavender + hydrangea bed March 1

Lavender bed cleared of unwanted plants while Lavender, Hydrangea & Lilies remain – March 1

pink hyacinth in a jug with chicken house in the background

A bouquet of Hyacinth and the hen house

Hellebore Winter Sunshine in March

Freshly dug up bed - Lavender + hydrangea - fresh compost

Lavender bed cleared of unwanted plants while Lavender, Hydrangea & Lilies remain. Here it has been freshly turned with compost added.

Abies Koreana covered in pine cones March 31st

Surrounding fields in April

Aubrietia in April (can you see my boots?)

Front Garden View at the end of April

Japanese Maple garden view end of April

Dug-up bed mature Lavender + hydrangea + hosta + lilies

Lavender bed cleared of unwanted plants while Lavender, Hydrangea & Lilies remain.

Merlot tulips and aubrietia

Dana in compost with chickens and Kitty

Strawberry Plants at the beginning of May

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ (Nootka Cypress) in May

Lily of the Valley planted with our cypress Nootka

View of the garden around the playhouse in May

Hawthorn trees in May

Lilacs and Hawthorn in May

Here is a picture of the mystery plant (at the back of the bed) last year. The mature lavender plant at the front is the source of many of my lavender wands!

Newly dug up bed mature lavender + hydrangea + new fig tree

Lavender bed cleared of unwanted plants while Lavender, Hydrangea & Lilies remain, and a fig tree has been added.

Chicken house and 1 free range chicken in June

Viburnum in June

Full rose plant in June

Poppy garden in June

4 chickens in Japanese Maple garden

Primula capitata subsp mooreana

June view of the veggie garden

Playhouse flowers lupin iris bleeding heart

Flowers at the playhouse – lupin, iris and bleeding heart

June Rainbow garden

Lavender colored poppies

Chickens following my daughter

Chicken at ditch wall garden July 11

Front garden in July

July harvest of garlic

Newest evergreen – Picea pungens ‘Super Blue’

July cleaned up lavender bed

Vase of Daisies in July

Pears in July

Lavender wands in July

August View of Garden Sunflowers + hydrangea

August View of Garden Sunflowers and hydrangea

Sweet pea + Kitty

August Lily and chickens

August Sunflowers

Lilies in August

Fig tree in August

Chicken in driveway in August

Sunflower and Apple tree in August

Black ornamental Grass in August

Light Pink David Austin Roses in August

Buttercup squash in August

Chickens and pink hydrangea

Chickens outside their run in September

Pears in September

apples in bowl and apple tree

Deep pink David Austin Roses in September

Yellow David Austin Roses in September

Apple pie and sunflowers in October

Playhouse garden with chickens in October

Hydrangea blooms in October

The first evergreen tree which we planted: Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ (Nootka Cypress)

Hazelnut tree in October

Lavender wreath made in November

November Chicken house in Sunrise

December Chickens and Cat

Blue Blanket with poppies + Dana in Family room

Me with my poppy blanket which I crocheted 🙂

Gardening as Therapy

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Mominthegarden

‘Queen of the night’ Tulip

Sometimes, things happen. Things that we don’t expect to happen, happen, and life changes… forever. We’re living through that at the moment, and it is really hard to navigate through all of the emotions we are feeling. Gardening is such an important part of my life, and it is in the garden where I feel healing. Please join me for a few minutes to enjoy some peace and tranquility in my garden.

‘Queen of the Night’ Tulips

The Queen of the Night tulips are strikingly beautiful, and for me their darkness also represents the sorrow that we feel. A friend and colleague of ours, and a genuinely super nice guy, Shay, achieved his life long ambition to reach the summit of Mt. Everest last week. Tragically, he fell on his descent. There are no other details, other than he is missing. It just doesn’t seem possible. Not Shay. But this is our new reality, including feeling numb with sadness. Gardening seems so trivial at times like these, but the garden is where I can go to find peace, and beauty, and renew my faith that somehow we, the immense community with whom Shay has so positively impacted, will all somehow get through this sad time. Come walk with me, as we use gardening as therapy…

Viburnum surrounded by Mystic van Eijk (the large tulips) and Don Quichotte (the small purple tulips)

The first of my tulips bloomed in March. They are circled around the Viburnum which blooms in May. The Beech hedges along the fence are still wearing their winter browns in this picture.

Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’ May 21, 2019 with the remnants of the tulips still showing. The Beech hedge is now wearing sporting green leaves.

Parrot tulips also bloom early in the season

Princess tulips April 27

The Princess tulips are just a couple of years old. Tulips can tend to “fade” with time (not look as nice after a few years). These are still young enough to look fresh.

Queen of the Night tulips + Princess Tulips

I thought the contrast of the dark Queen of the Night and the bright Princess tulips would be nice together. My only complaint is that the Princess tulips wither much quicker than the Queen of the Night tulips. But they are pretty.

Blushing Lady tulips

The Blushing Lady tulips are special to me, because they were one of the first flowers that I planted in our home in Manlius, New York. A number of years ago I planted some in our current garden right next to the playhouse, but they were dug up (unintentionally!) and destroyed in the process. So these were planted autumn 2018, well away from the playhouse. They are tall and the flowers are huge.

Blushing Lady Tulip

Merlot tulips + cherry tree

The Merlot tulips are also a new addition, planted in autumn 2018. It is quite a strong color, which I like.

Merlot tulips + Aubrietia

The Merlot tulips look amazing with the Aubrietia (this is a second grouping of the Merlot tulips in the same bed).

Merlot tulips

Here’s a look at the full bed. There are 3 groups of Merlot tulips, and 2 spare Ballerina tulips (they are orange) that were supposed to be moved out of this bed last year. The Aubrietia did really well this year. It is ever so slowly making its way to crawl over the wall (hopefully). The Boxwood (Box) has a lot of new growth, giving it a yellowish hue. I have a few Rose plants in here, too.

Merlot tulips open May 14

I do like capturing the inside of tulips.

Double Angelique tulips

Ballerina tulip fully open in May

Ballerina tulips are a fiery orange. I have (most of them) at the ditch wall in our garden and they can still be seen from across the yard.

Ballerina tulips

And that brings us to the end of our garden tour, using gardening as therapy. Thank you for walking with me on this journey of grief. I pray for Shay, and his family, and that all of us will find peace.

In peace,
Dana

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Tag Archives: Merlot tulips

Today is brought to you by the letter ‘T’ – for Tulips and Together

2019 was full of Flowers, Fowl, and Fun

Gardening as Therapy