Peak Spring Bloom: Part II

Several years ago I planted a few dozen tulips in the front yard.  Tulips don't always bloom well for many years, and they don't always multiply.  But pink 'Salmon Impression' and yellow 'Jaap Groot' have done both, and this spring they produced hundreds of blooms.

Tulips prefer well drained soil as the bulbs rot when they are kept wet in summer.  I guess that's the secret to the success of the tulips in my front yard, as the imported soil in the raised beds drains quickly.

The tulips didn't bloom very long this year since temperatures have been much warmer than usual.  The ones above are nearly ready to start dropping petals.  But the peonies and roses have buds ready to open any day now, so there won't be much of a break between the spring bulbs and the 'June' flowers that are actually going to bloom in May this year.

I was especially excited to see the first good bloom on my 'Kwanzan' flowering cherry tree.  This tree was planted perhaps five years ago, but it's never produced more than a handful of blooms.  I worried that maybe it just wasn't a bloomer.  But this year it exploded in a cloud of pink.  I think lack of maturity and spring frosts caused the lack of bloom in past years.

'Kwanzan' has double blossoms (extra petals) that look especially fluffy and full.  Lately it seems that many sophisticated gardeners prefer single flowers, but I'm still a sucker for the double ones.

I couldn't resist one more shot of this happy tree from last week.  By today most of the petals have dropped as pink 'snow.'  The lavender flowers at the bottom are 'Emerald Blue' creeping phlox (P. subulata).

This final photo shows the west garden with orange and pink tulips, purple aubretia, blue muscari, and yellow basket of gold (Alyssum).