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Showing posts with the label tulips

Tulips By Tree Swing Oak Tree - Foliage Arrives - March 2024

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The tulip bulbs that are planted (somewhat randomly) around the bed behind the large Northern Red Oak tree (Tree Swing Tree) have emerged for the year.  These are purple and yellow and white flowers that live amongst hostas, ferns and grasses.   And...wild onion.    Here's a couple of photos (below) that show the location of the bulbs - they're *mostly* scattered behind the tree trunk in the bed.

Parkway Tulip Tips Shoot Up - February 2024

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We've had a VERY mild Winter.  There was a span of about three weeks when it was brutally cold and it seemed like it snowed every.single.day.  But, overall...it was mild.  And that's likely turned a number of gardening variables on their ears.  Emergence.  Bloom time.  Exposure to late Frosts.  And, more, I'm sure. One of the 'mild Winter' related change that I saw VERY early in January was that the tulip bulbs that I had planted around the parkway tree had ALREADY come up, out of the mulch.  By January 5th.   J A N U A R Y. That seems VERY early.  It was BEFORE that three-week spell of 'brutally cold' weather that I mentioned above.  But, tulips being tulips, the foliage didn't mind the weather.  (or...the snow blanket was sufficient insulation.) I'm *very* aware of mulch volcanoes around trees and worry that every year - when we add another layer of mulch - that I'm burying things and creating problems.  Everyone says that you're supposed t

Parkway Tulip Tips Emerge First Week of January In New Zone 6A - January 2024

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Imagine my surprise when - on my walk to take the trash cans to the curb this week - I notice that there's some new, green foliage tips that have emerged from around the large Maple parkway tree in the front of our house.  "It's January 1st", I said to myself.  "What the heck is going on?" What is going on is (apparently) some of our tulip bulbs have begun to wake up and begin their 2024 growing season.  Here, below, are a couple of photos showing these confused (or, just too-early) tulips.  The first is a wider shot, the second is a close-up of the same tulip tips: Our tulips emerged in mid-February in 2023 .  This is a full six-weeks earlier.   That move to Zone 6a - from 5b - sure is meaningful, huh?   I suspect that these tips will remain just that - tips - for the next month-plus.  We haven't really had a lot of cold, cold Winter (yet), but I know it is coming in January.  

Green Velvet Boxwoods Added - Front Porch Bed - May 2023

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Last week, I shared my Front Porch Bed plan that included a mix of evergreen shrubs, grasses, roses, bulbs and some perennials and talked about how I was hoping that the combination of soil improvement AND the removal of the Norway Maple will allow for some vigorous growth of the new (and existing) plant material.  This post is showing the area to the 'left' (or south) of the Triumph Elm.  I have five existing Green Velvet boxwoods on the other side of the tree.  So, I opted to carry on that planting with four Green Velvet boxwoods on the other side of the Elm to sort of 'match' the bed.  Below, you can see the small, one-gallon Boxwoods planted in the bed.  With the tulip foliage still around, the boxwoods are hard to see.  Below is an annotated version of the photo.  Green Velvet Boxwoods in the green circles below.  Disneyland Roses in the orange circles: From my planning post, I listed the plant material required. Here's where it stands after these Boxwoods:

More Tulips in Front Yard - February 2023

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Just yesterday, I posted some photos of the first tulips that I was able to spot in our front yard beds (in between two driveways down by the sidewalk) and mentioned that I wasn't sure if there were going to be more up by the house.  We took down the large Norway Maple tree and replaced it with a Triumph Elm last Fall .  As part of that process, the crew ground out the stump and with it (I presume) a bunch of the bulbs that I planted around the base on the tree.   But, life finds a way.  See the photo below that shows the trunk of the Triumph Elm up on a bit of a berm.  But...at the very bottom of the photo - in the middle - you'll see some tulip bulb tips: And, so too, have the tulips down around our parkway tree emerged.  See below for a few photos:

Tulip Tips Emerging Early - February 2023

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Just a few days ago, I posted photos of what I think is the earliest emergence of the tips of Hellebores in our backyard and talked about how I'm not sure what is driving this early Spring .  When I was out front, I noticed that there are other things *already* moving in the garden.  Specifically...some tulips.  Down in the little bed wedged in between the sidewalk, our driveway and the property line are some tulips that were planted in Fall of 2021.  Last year was their first season and I noted their emergence in early March .  So - just like with the Hellebores - this is about three weeks earlier than last year.  Here, below, is a peek at some of the tulip foliage that has sprung up.   H ere's a look at where these bloomed last season .   These are MOST LIKELY going to need a little protection from getting trampled by the kids and neighbors and their dogs.  I looked in a few other spots - around the parkway tree and underneath the Triumph Elm that we planted last year and I d

Where to Plant Tulip Bulbs In Fall 2022 - June 2022

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This Spring, we had the most tulips come up that we've ever had in our garden.  That's because that I've planted tulip bulbs every Fall for the past few years.  Adding colors and textures and growing the area where the bulbs are planted.  Last year, I was able to snap a few photos of the current state of tulips, so when I was planting the bulbs in the Fall, I had a sense of where they needed to be planted to fill in the area .  This post shows an updated look at a few areas to focus on planting bulbs that I'll need to reference come Fall. First, around the front of the Norway Maple, there's a bare spot between the two grasses you see where the rootflare enters the mulch.  As well as right in front of that grass in the center of the photo - to the left of the Boxwood.  I should plant bulbs in those two spots: As we go around the Norway Maple, there's more gaps to fill in: Between the front of the tree and the Lemon Coral Sedum on the left of the photo between the

Wandering Around The Beds - Early April 2022

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There are signs of life emerging EVERYWHERE around our garden.  Here's a few photos of things that are bringing me a little bit of Spring joy in beds around our garden.  First, the IB2DW bed - which has (now) five Pinball Wizard Allium bulbs that were planted last year .  Below, you can see the red-ish tips of the foliage emerging from the mulch.   On the south side of the house is an Iris that my Sister Vic gave to me from her Indiana Street (Elmhurst) neighbor.  I call this "Wes' Iris" .  It is coming alive as I type: Under the troubled (in Decline) Norway Maple out front are some *new* (to me) tulips that have arrived for the first time (below).  I planted these last year .  They're DIFFERENT in that the foliage is variegated and has a pink(ish) stripe down the edge.  And, here below, are a BUNCH more tulips that I planted down near the sidewalk in that troublesome spot.  Should note (to myself) where these are and how to augment them this Fall. Below is a peek

Tree Swing Red Oak Tree Tulips Emerging - March 2022

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Last week, I posted a couple of photos showing off some tulip tips and allium tips that have emerged in the front yard as the snow has melted and the temperatures have turned upwards.  A few days ago, I wandered around the backyard to see if I could see any signs of life out there and sure enough....some of the tulips that are planted under the Tree Swing Oak tree have emerged through the mulch.  See below for a look at the red foliage peeking through: In the Fall of 2020, I planted 114 tulip bulbs in this bed - a combination of purple, white and yellow blooms.  Based on this redish color, I'm thinking that this one may end up being one of those purple flowers like Queen of Night or Negrita Tulips.  This is the second Spring these have come back - here's a photo from March 8th of 2021 showing the same bed .  These are planted in amongst hostas some grasses that I thought would be good companions in early Spring.  As the tulips die back, the hostas begin to emerge and cover u

Parkway Area Tulip Tips Emerging For First Time - March 2022

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Last Fall, I planted a variety of Spring bulbs in beds like I've done over the years.  I posted some photos and details of the various Allium that I planted , but I don't seem to have shared the details of the tulip bulbs that I also put in at the same time.  The problem with that is that I'm TOTALLY unsure of where I put all of the bulbs.  It appears - based on some photos I've found in Google Photos that I put in 100 Tulip bulbs.  See below for the photos - showing two bags from Longfield Gardens: I recall planting *some* bulbs down by the parkway - both under the Norway Maple and around the 'hard to grow' area IB2DWs.  But, I'm guessing I put them in elsewhere, too and will have to track the blooms as they come up.  But, guess what?  I'm seeing some of these newly planted bulbs peek up through the mulch.  That means...Spring is ALMOST HERE. First, around the Norway Maple tree in the parkway.  I don't know now many bulbs are here, but I remember p

Between Two Driveways - Dry and Troublesome Spot - September 2021

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When I put together my 2021 to-do list , I included as #3 the idea of working the 'in between two driveways' area.  I mentioned that I needed to add a layer of mulch and think about doing even more.  I did some of that - mulched AND added a trio of Serendipity Allium to the bed .  And, the Chanticleer Pear Tree (after some hard pruning) seems to be on track.  (I'm not sure that's a good thing...but that's for another day.) But that's the extent of the work over there so far. Revisiting what I wrote back in late February about this area, I mentioned doing more: Later on (after I published my list), I wrote a post expounding on this area and even had some thinking about the area and converting it from turf grass .  But, I never got around to doing that very thing. Why post about it now?  Because, after a hard Summer of sun beating down on it, I am reminded why this area is so problematic.  See below for what it looks like right now:  Hard, dry, brittle and brown. 

Using Floating Row Cover on Newly Transplanted Perennials - Frost Protection in April

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This photo is from Tuesday, April 20th.  When, we had snow.  And two straight nights of below freezing temperatures in Northern Illinois.  I was totally unprepared for these temperatures, but thanks to Nat's quick thinking, we grabbed a couple of sheets of floating row cover from Amazon that had 'Same Day' delivery.  I unrolled them, covered a bunch of things that I've recently moved (the Fanal Astilbes, a bunch of random Peonies, some new ferns and hostas and an impulse-bought Japanese Maple.   You can see the snow coming down in the photo below: I went out the following morning (when the temperature was still below 30 degrees) and found my tulip blooms looking not so happy: I'm guessing that we'll have a much shorter season of tulip flowers this season, but by the afternoon - when the temperatures had risen to the upper 40's, they mostly seemed to bounce back.  Some of the flower petals had dropped, but nothing like what happened with the Saucer Magnolia o