Tulips: Tangerine Dreams

Having extolled the virtues of those dark delights in the tulip world, partnered with the soft and sophisticated in shades of mauve, purple and white, I decided to break out with a citrus fest.  Personally I just love orange tulips; they are such a loud celebration of spring, and I just adore how they scream for attention in the spring garden.  I remember a wonderful picture of Tulipa ‘General de Wet’ (burnt orange) partnered with blue forget-me-nots in a book that bleated on about the colour wheel.  Personally I think calculated combinations are too contrived – unless of course they work; which this one does! I think my love of orange may be a bit of a boy’s thing? But I’m going to share a few favorites with you and get your opinion ………..

I’ll start softly by recommending Tulip ‘Dordogne’(above), a cousin of my beloved ‘Menton’.  It has the same large, single, globular flowers but in a wonderful shade of coral-orange.  In some lights they are more pink, and sometimes more orange but always with a hint of gold towards the edge of the petals.  This tulip is just as long-lasting as ‘Menton’.

‘Daydream’ is a tulip I have grown occasionally over the years. This is a surprising character that opens clear yellow in typical Darwin tulip fashion.  Its always a bit of a shock to the system “I don’t remember planting yellow tulips!” I hear myself exclaim. Its not that I don't like yellow - I would never choose yellow tulips because there is so much yellow around from daffodils, forsythia and the like.

Last year I planted it quite by chance with a few Narcissus ‘Jetfire’, that sprightly dwarf daffodil with reflexed golden petals and a bright orange trumpet.  This was a happy co-incidence as after a few days of yellow elegance the flower form softens and opens and the blooms change to soft orange. I positioned it against a blue grey pot with a yellow-striped yucca but I think it would have worked just as well with any golden variegated evergreen in the border.

You can buy ‘Menton’, ‘Dordogne’ and ‘Daydream’, and other great varieties as super-sized 14+ bulbs online http://www.hillieronline.co.uk/search-results?searchvalue=14

Don't leave it too long - they are selling fast!

Tulipa ‘Sensual Touch’ was another real surprise. So many double tulips and daffodils fall apart when wind and rain hits them. This one was strong, weather resistant and extremely long lasting. The double, fringed, soft orange flowers were beautiful as they opened, and ravishing when fully expanded. Layers and layers of silky petals punctuated with dark stamens were reminiscent of a can-can dancer’s skirt.  This tulip changed my opinion of double tulips – I will definitely grow it again.

Tulipa ‘Ballerina’ is one of my all-time favourites. Delicious glowing orange blooms with sleek pointed petals on strong 50cm stems. I love it rising out of a cloud of blue forget-me-nots or towering above a ruff of dark purple heucheras.  Last year I grew it in simple terracotta pots with just a few Tulipa ‘Queen of Night’ thrown in for drama. Against the cream rendered wall of the house it was heart-stoppingly stunning; especially when the sun made it cast bold shadows across the wall.  It reminded me that often the simplest combinations work the best. There is no need to get too clever with great planting partnerships.

Autumn Anemones – Anemone x hybrida

  The autumn anemone is one of the great garden delights of late summer and autumn.  I originally knew this wonderful perennial as the Japanese anemone, later as Anemone japonica.  It was always known as a plant that thrived and spread in some gardens and refuses to establish in others – mainly because it was often sold as a bare root perennial, wrapped in peat and plastic.Today well-established container grown plants ensure its quick establishment on most reasonable soils, in sun or shade however, it does flower best if it gets a few hours of sun a day.  It grows best where the soil does not dry out completely.

The foliage of Japanese anemones makes excellent ground cover. E. A. Bowles wrote: “It has taken possession of rather more of my garden than I desired, but it is so lovely that I cannot bring myself to root any of it out”.  I’m rather glad that my mother never read that quote; she struggled to grow it but loved it so.  

Few flowers bloom for such a long season.  The simple pink autumn anemone, known as Anemone japonica of gardens can bloom for nearly three months.  The charming rounded blooms with their round shining petals are elegantly poised on slender upright stems high above the lovely dark green foliage.  The centrepiece of each bloom is a crown of golden stamens.

The white form Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ is one of the loveliest white flowers. The silken petals surround particularly fine golden stamens.  It is at its best against a dark green background such as the evergreen mound of Viburnum davidii in a semi-shaded corner.   On fertile soil it can grow to a metre or more in height but is often shorter in its first season.  The light height of this elegant perennial means that it fits easily into any garden.

The lovely deep pink Anemone x hybrida ‘Prinz Heinrich’ is also a delight. The semi double blooms have narrower waved, slightly incurved petals.  The slender flower stems grow to 60cm or so above particularly fine dark green foliage. It is lovely planted alongside the plum foliage of Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’ or the autumn sapphire blooms of ceratostigma. ‘Prinz Heinrich’ is a particularly fine plant for a small garden or a narrow border. 

If autumn anemones look familiar to you in a different context all may become clear later in the year.  The simple bloom of the Japanese anemone is often mistakenly depicted as the Christmas rose alongside holly on Christmas cards. 

Buying Tulips ................pick of the crop

Those that know me realise that I’m a tulip addict.  We all have our guilty pleasures, and one of mine is the tulip.  I had decided to resist blogging about buying tulips until later in the season – but the sight of those shining mahogany bulbs arriving in the garden centres was too much. Why wait to tell you about them?  The first thing I should say is that it is too early to plant tulips. Please wait until late October or November to get them into the ground or into pots.  Plant too early and you risk frost damage and the disease tulip fire.

However it is not too early for buying tulips – They are available now and you know what they say: “the early birds get the best bulbs”, or something like that. I always go for the largest bulbs I can buy and those are the ones that Hillier sells loose.  Graded as 14+ or 14up, these are firm, plump and packed with flower power.

Tulips bloomed in Europe for the first time in the spring of 1594.  The bulbs came from Turkey where some grow wild; selections have been made and cultivated in Turkish gardens since earliest times.  ‘Tulipomania’ swept through Holland in the early 1600s and spread to Germany, France and Flanders.  Astronomical prices were paid for single bulbs as collectors sought to acquire rare and showy forms.  It took the intervention of the Dutch government to halt this speculation in tulip bulbs, but not before fortunes and livelihoods were lost in the process. Stories abound of Dutch merchants willing to exchange their canal – side house in Amsterdam for a single bulb.  Even as late as 1850 the bulb of a well- broken tulip (one with flamed or feathered flowers) would fetch as much as £150.

Fascinating stories: fortunately today tulips are considerably cheaper, and the risk of getting hooked on these fabulous flowers is considerably less.  Ten fabulous tulip bulbs cost less than a bunch of flowers and last considerably longer.

So when buying tulips what do I choose? I want a long lasting tulip that performs regardless of the weather.  I like simple single tulips in soft or dark colours. I love silky, sensual, elegant blooms. Tulip ‘Menton’ delivers all of these qualities and those that have grown it always come back the following year.  The blooms are soft salmon, becoming more intense as they mature. In some lights they have a hit of gold in the petals. They open late in the season on long, stout stems and are remarkably large, but beautifully formed.  This is a great variety for beds and borders.  On well drained soil ‘Menton’ will reappear year after year.  It is also superb in pots and as a cut flower. 

Tulip ‘Menton’ is always a show stealer at Chelsea Flower Show.  Last year’s show saw a week of hot weather and ‘Menton’ was the only variety on Bloms’ exhibit that lasted the whole week.

Buying tulips now? Buy ‘Menton’, 14+ bulbs while they are still available. Visit www.hillier.co.uk now. What about my other guilty pleasures...................maybe next time.

Alliums - bulbs that last

Alliums are such appealing flowers, delicate structures carried on straight stems above the other residents of the flower border.  These are enduring flowers, long term garden plants that reliably produce blooms that are exquisite in bud, flower and seed.  There are a number of popular varieties appearing in garden centres now as dry bulbs.  This is the way to buy them, its far better value than buying them growing in pots later on.

I garden on well-drained sandy soil, and my alliums multiply year on year.  They also seed and spread successfully and I encourage this as they drift through the borders.  It takes a few years for alliums from seed to flower, but the parent bulbs keep up the display in the meantime.

The essential allium in any garden is the lovely silver-lilac Allium christophii.  This has large sparkling flowerheads on stout stems, and it’s one of the longest lasting alliums I know.  Plant the bulbs a few centimetres apart in groups of three or so, or plant singly and randomly amidst herbaceous geraniums or silver foliage plants.  Never plant alliums where you can see the base of the plant, for example in pots or bare soil.  The foliage starts to die back as the flowers open and it looks awful. 

Allium christophii has a stunning seedhead when the flowers fade, and it last in good condition into autumn, before turning to parchment in the winter garden.  Often last year’s seedheads are blowing around the garden when the plants are producing more flowers the following summer.

The other large flowered alliums I rate highly are Allium ‘Globemaster and Allium ‘Gladiator’.

These are taller with large tightly packed flowerheads which are magnets for bees and pollinating insects.  These bulbs are more expensive, but again you are investing in long-term garden plants.  The blooms are long lasting, but the seedheads are not.  Enjoy them while they are the spectacles of the early summer border, rising high above perennials and grasses.

In most gardens alliums are left along by rabbits and deer, so they are a better bet than tulips which these creatures love! There are lots of other varieties to choose from, and lots of planting partners. One of my favourites is the lovely grass Stipa tenuissima. 

Alliums and Stipa tenuissima – now there’s a marriage made in heaven – maybe I’ll write about that next time.  This certainly isn’t my last word on alliums.  I want you all to know your onions by the time September is out!

Muscari magic

The grape hyacinth is one of the most underrated spring bulbs in English gardens; just because it is easy to grow and successful, it is much maligned for its ability to seed and spread. Typical of us gardeners – if a plant grows well we curse it and complain! The Dutch have long appreciated its value: a long flowering season, fabulous sapphire shades, the ultimate mixer when trying to join lots of clashing colours together.  In fact the wonderful blue of Muscari armeniacum is extensively used in the Keukenhof and any other display gardens in Holland.  This widely grow grape hyacinth lends itself to mass planting, and use in pots and containers, you can even dig it up and use it for indoor decoration on the windowsill.

More and more varieties of muscari appear on the market every year.  These other grape hyacinths do not seed and spread like Muscari armeniacum, so they may be a better bet for those that want control over long term garden subjects.  The inky blue Muscari latifolium (broad leaves) was used to create a river beneath trees at the Keukenhof last spring.  Its deep blue, upright blooms were teamed up with the lovely yellow Tulipa sylvestris. 

Personally I love the grape hyacinth in containers.  I planted an old galvanised bath with around 150 bulbs of mixed shades of muscari last spring and it flowered exquisitely for over a month – that’s the magic of muscari.

 The Dutch use sprinklings of grape hyacinth in pots and containers, and they are masters at using them in small outdoor containers.  I loved the ones attached to lamp posts at the Keukenhof.

If you grow grape hyacinths, Muscari armeniacum in the open ground and you want to prevent the seeding and spreading just chop off the seedheads while they are green, straight after flowering.  It’s when you allow those black seeds to develop that they spread.

Grape hyacinths are great value bulbs; buy lots this autumn and sprinkle your garden with fragrant sapphire blooms next spring.  When they flower, do not forget to pick a few for the house.  They are wonderfully fragrant and long lasting as cut flowers more muscari magic.

Fifty Shades of Green

Looking at my pictures, following my recent visit to RHS Wisley, I am so impressed by the garden's green areas.  Admittedly this summer's rain has made the grass grow, and the foliage of shrubs and trees is particularly lush, but green is something English Gardens do well.

Two of the small lawns, near the entrance to the garden, were particularly impressive.  I know I talk a lot about creative mowing, especially on my lawns course at www.my-garden-school.com,  but you don't often see it done quite so well. Radiating stripes from one corner transform a square of grass (immaculate I admit) into a contemporary sunburst.

Outside the new conservatory Tom Stuart Smith's planting of beech, sarcocooca and hakenochloa was looking midsummer verdant.  I really wish I was as brave about this bold planting of simple subjects it looks fantastic in any season.  Fifty shades  of green now, then emerald and parchment in winter.

The broad grass pathway through the double herbaceous borders really does emphasise the importance of green space in showing the planting off to maximum effect.  This balance between space and planting is all important in the design of a garden.  Yes this is a lot of grass, but these are big, wide borders and this garden has a lot of visitors.  In most gardens the borders are too narrow and the lawn is too big - and rarely is it fifty shades of green! Maybe now's the time to sort it #yourgardenneedsyou!

Wisley Gardens - Hydrangeas, herbaceous and herbs

I visited Wisley for a couple of hours the other afternoon to take some pictures of Hydrangea paniculata.  I remember them beig particularly spectacular on Battlestone Hill - that wooded part of the garden near the Trial Ground that was so famous for its Rhododendrons and spring colour.  The best from a trial of Hydrangea paniculata was planted out here a couple of years ago and I wasn't disappointed. 

Seeing them in flower in containers in the garden centre gives little idea of their potential when planted in semi-shade in fertile soil.  Even shrubs such as Hydrangea Vanilla Fraise and Limelight, which I had considered rather spindly little characters prove here that they can develop into fabulous, flamboyant plants that light up the garden when so many other shrubs are sinking into autumn slumber.

Of course the other feature of Wisley Gardens at this time of the year are the herbaceous perennials.  The double herbaceous borders really are quite magnificent.  For me, throughout the gardens Heleniums steal the show.  I love these prairie flowers for their velvety, button-eyed blooms in rich autumn, sunset shades.  They remind me of exotic moths, sometimes tapestry.  On a warm sunny evening their coloulrs really are extravagant and luxurious.

The small gardens are generally looking a bit tired after a few warm days and a drier spell of weather - remarkably good I suppose considering the summer we've had.  I was taken with this bed of sage and lavender surrounding a birdbath.  These woody herbs are great plants for this type of situation. Salvia officinalis 'Icterina' is a plant I forget about; I use the purple one all the time, but this is such an uplifting colour.  It is eyecatching but does not jar as many yellow oliage plants tend to do.  I love it with blue - bet its good with Perovskia - maybe I'll talk about that great autumn plant next time............