It’s easy to see why people have gone crazy for these flowers. One visitor this week commented with amazement in his voice about the variety of colors available in this one flower. It’s true – they come in almost every color – all but the truest of blues. In that way they’re a little like roses. But roses, when they’re healthy and happy, come back the same every year and for better or worse, we’re stuck with our choices. Tulips give us a built in excuse to be fickle because aside from the species tulips, most bulbs weaken over time and quit flowering. We try new ones every year and can’t keep up with the breeders’ variety.

This year we were lucky: they weren’t grazed by the deer. We sprayed almost weekly as soon as the leaves emerged with concoctions of “Oh no Deer Repellent”, “Deer-Off” and “Deer Stopper” – all commercially available and all a little stinky. (“Deer-Off” was the only one that smelled revolting to me and “Oh No” smelled deliciously like Big Red gum.) Not only did all the tulips bloom but they’ve almost all bloomed at once – that’s a rare sight since they’re bred not only for color, size and shape but bloom time. The late ones opened right along with the early ones this month and as luck would have it, they’re all hanging on despite rain squalls, wind and sun. Fingers crossed for the weekend and into next week…

I have more favorites this year than I usually do. (That’s not true – I always have a long list.) In the Rose Garden I can’t help but love ‘Rococco’ and ‘Snow Parrot’ (shown in an earlier post) because they’re so over the top fancy-pants. But it’s little Tulipa clusiana ‘Lady Jane’ that really takes my breath away.

In the North Garden, I’m thrilled with the whole show. We chose ‘Amazone’, an orange with a green flare; ‘Jackpot’, the longest lasting tulip ever, based on last year’s trial in the cutting garden – I love how the white edge really makes it show up; and ‘Pimpernel’, a raspberry red lily flower. The whole garden glows.

My faves in the Cutting Garden are ‘Viri Chic’, and ‘Green Wave’ even though it hasn’t opened yet. We’re all enjoying ‘Big Chief’ (shown in the foreground and at the visitor’s fingertips in the top picture). We had it in the Rose Garden last year and I think it is even bigger this year (same bulbs, replanted).

Do you have favorites this year? How often do you plant new tulips?

The Mayflower (Korean spicebush/Viburnum carlesii) is in bloom along with the tulips – which makes me think it must be May … but there’s snow in the forecast (a very slight chance) for Sunday … That can only signify that we’re still solidly in April. Whatever month it is, it’s a beauty.

It’s not often that we get to see everything blooming at once. And now that the temperatures have lowered, we should get a sustained show. Even the daffodils are still stupendous – aside from the ‘Ice Follies’ which, like me, are starting to show their age.

Here is a little preview of flowers in honor of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. I have to say that if I hadn’t visited Mr. McGregor’s Daughter‘s bloom day post, I never would have known to look for the bloom on the ginger (Asarum canadensis) in the Rock Garden. Is there anything here – or in another blogger’s bloom day post – that you would have otherwise missed seeing in your garden?

According to my calendar we’re running a little ahead of schedule in the gardens. We’ve divided and moved a few perennials; we’ve cut almost everything back that needed to be (except a climbing rose or two); and we’ve even hooped the biggest peonies, which have already set ant-covered buds. (If you see ants on your peonies, don’t worry. The ants don’t do any damage to the buds and may even help protect the plants from other critters. Contrary to popular belief though, peonies do not need the ants’ help to open the buds.)

Just because we’re ahead of schedule doesn’t mean that we’re catching up with what needs to be done – I figure we’ll be about caught up by this time next year. And just because some signs have been pointing to May lately, that doesn’t mean that any of us should put our tender houseplants outside or plant tomatoes just yet. But next week, after checking the long term forecast, we might put the sweet peas out to harden off…

And just because there’s a little rain (and snow) in the weekend forecast doesn’t mean it’s a bad time to visit Blithewold. You can always escape the weather in the greenhouse…

Spring blooms are not queuing up in any kind of orderly succession – they’re storming the gates, pushing and shoving and all shouting at once. The tulips are not waiting their turn for the daffodils or even the scilla to go by. Not only are the color clashes truly alarming but we’re left to wonder what will happen in May. Will The May Gap be deeper than ever or will May really be June instead? And then what happens to July? At this point it’s all conjecture with a few hopes and fears thrown in, and there’s absolutely nothing we gardeners can do but enjoy the abundance – and take way too many pictures. If the lilacs bloom out before Mother’s Day, so be it. Maybe Mom will have roses instead… As for the daffodils, they are still gorgeous. The ‘Ice Follies’ are fading but late bloomers like ‘Thalia’ and ‘Mrs. Backhouse’ are set to open right up.

This could be a bloom day post 3 days early but I think much more will be revealed in the next few days. As a matter of fact, here’s a foreshadowing:

Anyone care to place bets on when the Mayflower viburnum a.k.a. Korean spice bush a.k.a. Viburnum carlesii will bloom? How about the crabapple? Are your May flowers looking like they might bloom in April too?

I know I’d be complaining bitterly right now if we had had a frost or (heaven forbid) a snow but it would be so much easier to let go of the gardens if they looked melted and awful. The title I chose for this post is misleading – I can’t begin to tell you how to let go because I’m having the hardest time this year. Truth be told, I think I have this very same challenge – Gail might call it a mental toughness test -  every year. And to make matters worse, Gail and I both weaken when the other starts to slip. Gail might come in blazing, “It’s all coming out! It’s time!” but if she catches me looking wistful, her resolve turns to mush. I’m every bit as soft even when I think I’ve finally steeled myself. (You can tell by how the greenhouse is filling up with 2 of each plant I claimed we didn’t need… It’s like Noah’s ark in here.)

But we’ve got this window – this beautiful week – and while nearly every cell in our bodies cries out that the gardens look beautiful and should remain so for visitors’ sakes, we also know down to our bones that next week could be too awful in some rainy miserable way to do a lot of work outside. We’ve got to let go.

With every sad ending we can only hope for a sweet joy to make it feel worthwhile. It definitely helps that as we and the volunteers (all of us cringing) take out still-blooming annuals and start cutting back perennials, we’re making way for the tulips to go in. (But of course we must wait, if we possibly can, for a killing frost before taking out the dahlias…)

Are you having trouble letting go too or has the weather made it any easier on you?

For the next few weeks Gail and I will plant, divide and move perennials in any kind of weather short of a monsoon-style downpour but we both had to agree that, even though we are Spring-sun junkies like most people, yesterday’s weather was perfect.  Overcast, spitting rain here and there, somewhere in the 50′s or low 60′s – the plants hardly noticed that they were being messed with and we warmed up as we worked. And the weather for the rest of the week looks ideal for a stress-free settling in. With rain and cloud-cover, plants can concentrate on repairing roots rather than urgently putting on green growth and photosynthesizing (and wilting from the exertion). It’s perfect weather for garden gazing and photography too – gray skies make colors pop. As usual, hover over for captions and click on for larger view.

We picked up where we left off last October when we rearranged the furniture in the North Garden, and took out a few more Phlox paniculata ‘David’ and added in our favorite (OK, my favorite) Phlox paniculata ‘Natural Feelings’. We replaced the standard pink Japanese anemone with white, early flowering Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’. We tucked in a few sweet flag (Acorus calamus ‘Variegatus’) for some bright spears to break up the monotony of a predominantly billowy garden. And we plucked out a few of the front row catmints (Calamintha nepeta) and replaced them with a 12″ speedwell (Veronica ‘Twilight’) that we have high hopes for.  And everything we took out (aside from the potentially mildewy phlox) will be replanted in another garden. Gail calls it “Musical Plants” and we do a different version of that cake walk every year. There’s nothing like moving boring old perennials to another garden to rejuvenate our interest in them. Do you do that too? (- Do you ever move them to a friend’s garden and then want them back again?)

When I decided on the title for this post it occurred to me to mention conditioning flowers for arranging. Our volunteer flower arrangers are starting work this week and tomorrow Gail or I will cut tulips for Terri who is leading the pack. (Once or twice over the course of the season, each volunteer arranger will make two arrangements for the house with flowers and foliage we cut from the grounds.) Tulips are pretty easy as cut flowers go: Cut them before they’ve opened and place in plenty of water with a leaf or two still attached. They’ll keep growing in the vase and according to Garden to Vase: Growing and Using Your Own Cut Flowers by Linda Beutler, they prefer sugary water to bleachy and should last 10 days. My favorite trick for keeping the stems straight is to drop a penny in the vase – but sometimes a graceful flop is a lovely development. Do you cut your tulips or leave them in the garden?