Spring Tulips

The pastel Darwin hybrid tulips have exploded into bloom into the front yard as they do every year, but I'm especially enjoying a bold colored new display in the backyard. 

Above is 'Palmyra,' which is my new favorite this year.  It's similar to 'Black Hero' but earlier blooming and more maroon.

'Palmyra' is planted with 'Orange Princess' and 'Negrita' in the main sunny bed in the northwest corner of the backyard.

Happy spring!  The bright sun shining on these colors makes my heart swell.

Several chartreuse Euphorbia polychroma are also blooming with the tulips.  This is a fabulous perennial for a long period of early color that repeats every year, but it needs to be deadheaded carefully after bloom as the sap can cause a rash but it reseeds heavily if not cut back.

'Orange Princess' is a sport of 'Princess Irene' and has lovely dark flames on the outsides of the petals.  You don't see them during the day when it's open wide, but in the evening they are visible.

The west path is in bloom with 'Crown Princess Mary' double pink tulips as well as purple aubretia and 'Blue Spike' muscari.

I planted 'Exotic Emperor' tulips in the white garden last fall and they're pretty with fluffy variegated white aubretia at their feet.
It's funny to me how I always seem to have too many bulbs to plant in fall but never enough blooming in spring.  I've just made several bulb orders from Brent and Becky's Bulbs, White Flower Farm, and John Scheepers, so I'm already looking forward to those new additions for next spring.
Our mild winter turned frigid and snowy at the beginning of February and continued to pile up snow until the middle of March.  But now we're enjoying beautiful spring weather and colorful flowers.  I've been doing a lot of planting and transplanting, so as always I'm looking forward to seeing how my changes play out later in the season.

Tour of Allerton Gardens on Kauai, Hawaii

My garden is buried under two feet of snow right now (at the end of February?!), so my husband and I especially appreciated a sunny escape to Kauai earlier this month.  A highlight for me was our tour of the Allerton Garden, created by Robert Allerton and John Gregg beginning in 1938. Above is their beach house as seen from the tour bus window on the drive into the garden.

This 83-acre garden was named one of Nation Geographic Traveler's "50 Places of a Lifetime in America," and it was truly stunning.  Above are the Morton Bay fig trees featured in the movie Jurassic Park.  Our tour guide said that Steven Spielberg kept filming as Hurricane Iniki approached the island (in 1992), so the storm scenes in the movie were very real.  After the film became such a success, Spielberg gave generous bonuses to the camera crew who kept working in dangerous conditions.  Iniki was the largest hurricane to hit Hawaii in recorded history, and the destruction it caused kept Allerton Garden closed for three years afterward.

I was amazed at the beautiful scenes in nearly every direction.  Even though I only had my less-than-stellar cell phone camera with me, I enjoyed snapping shots along with the rest of our tour group.  This garden is only open for guided tours, which were not inexpensive.  My husband kept joking about writing a book entitled "Kauai on $400 a Day." 

Even the less famous giant trees were majestic.  A full time team of seven gardeners cares for the garden.

This garden is quite different than the English cottage gardens I love so much, but I fell in love with it.  What a beautiful gift the Allertons gave to us by choosing to share their creation with the public after their deaths.

It was fascinating to see giant versions of many plants I have grown indoors in pots. 

Here's a photo of me with some of these monster-sized houseplants for perspective.

The use of water in the garden was extensive.  A spring was channeled through many stone waterfalls and pools.

Here is one of the pools with feral chickens sauntering nearby.  Hurricane Iniki set chickens free on the island and they proliferated in the following years.  We also saw them around the hotel pool, on beaches, in parks and in parking lots.  Lots of roosters.  Lots of crowing all day long, but I found it amusing instead of annoying.

The Mermaid Room featured this pool that was shaped with undulating sides that cause the water to pulse out the lower end.

Another waterfall and pool.  In my garden I would be rather proud of myself if I created just one scene like this, and Allerton Garden had so many. 

Giant bamboo arched over these steps.  If I had to pick one word to describe the gardens, it might be giant.  Or breathtaking.  Or gorgeous.  The tour was a lovely experience and well worth the time and money.

January Update

After a lovely holiday with plenty of family visiting, my kids have returned to school and I have a few quiet minutes to blog.  I was sad to hear last month of the passing of David Austin, creator of English roses like 'William Shakespeare 2000' and 'Lady's Blush,' above.  I grow nearly two dozen of his roses and they bring me joy.

I've added to my garden books collection recently and am completely delighted with this one, 'The Secret Gardeners,' about the gardens of some of Britain's famous creatives.  Sting (that's part of his garden on the cover), Andrew Lloyd Weber, Ozzy Osbourne, Prue Leith (my daughters love The Great British Baking Show) and others are included.  The pictures of the varied and beautiful gardens are plentiful, large and gorgeous.  I'd highly recommend it for anyone who loves English style gardens.

After going back and forth about whether to store my dahlia tubers over the winter, I tried wrapping some in plastic wrap and storing them in my deli drawer (37 degrees) in Tupperware containers.  I've lost about half due to rot from condensation from the fridge, but they might freeze in my garage and the basement is too warm.  We'll see how that goes.  I've already ordered some new types (three each of Rip City, Belle of Barmera, White Onesta, Melody Pink Allegro, Great Silence) from Longfield Gardens and may have to order more if my fridge tubers all mold.  Fingers crossed that at least some make it through, like 'Cafe au Lait' above.

I'm counting down the days until I can pot up dahlia tubers and plant seeds under the grow light I set up in my bathtub.  Above is Ammi, or false Queen Anne's lace.

And I should mention my amazing moth orchid (Phalaenopsis) that bloomed for an entire year.  I bought it at Costco early last December with two bloom stalks that lasted until May.  Once those were cut back (I cut just above the growth node down the stem from the previous stalks) it immediately sprouted two more stalks that bloomed until early December.  Now it's sending two more stalks out from the next set of nodes.  Amazing!   It seems very happy with all the indirect light in our dining room addition.
I'm looking forward to another year of growth and beauty in the garden.  Although reading about the gardens of the rich and famous has reinforced just how small my quarter acre garden is, I'm delighted and grateful for a spot of my own to nurture.