tulips...finally!

in spring of 2004, i moved into a new construction home. it was a scary and exciting time, and one of the things i most looked forward to was having a big bed of tulips each spring. tulips, along with other bulbs, succulents, and orchids are among my favorite plants.


unfortunately, the condition of my soil was pretty bad. the earth consisted of many stones of various sizes, clay, and lots and lots of weeds. because the city of troy, michigan requires a lawn to be put in, i had landscaping and sprinklers put in. the nice folks from rumptz landscape and design removed as many of the weeds as possible, tilled the soil, added topsoil, and also put in brick pavers. they tossed the extra sand into the spaces left empty for planting which actually helped a great deal in conditioning a patch of land by my front porch. it was this little area that i decided was going to be used for planting tulips.


my dad recommended that i add gypsum to the soil as a conditioner. i dug up the earth and also mixed in some bloodmeal to give the bulbs some nutrients. the soil was still in very bad condition, but i had lots of clearance bulbs on hand and at this point, it was already november and the bulbs had to go in or go to waste.

bulbs i planted in the fall of 2004:

franks nursery pink garden collection
flowering time - feb to may
10 darwin hybrid tulip menton (24" deep carnation pink)
30 allium roseum (16" little rounds of starlike flowers, light purple-pink)
10 iris hollandica carmen (24" light purple iris with a tinge of yellow - beautiful!)


franks nursery exotic collector's blend
flowering time - late spring
5 deirdre (22" mixture of green, reddish-pink and cream all in one bloom)
5 greenland (22" mixture of green and cream in one bloom, pointy tips - one of my favorites)

franks nursery tulips white elegance
flowering time - late spring
8 bulbs (very pointy tips)

franks nursery tulips wirosa
flowering time - late spring
5 bulbs (16", roundish bloom containing red and white...reminds me of parrot tulips)

franks nursery tulips angelique
flowering time - late spring
5 bulbs (16", pink roundish bloom)

langeveld tulipa easter basket mixed pastels
flowering time - mid-spring
64 bulbs (16-20", variety of deep pinks, oranges, yellows, whites tinged with purple)

onderwater mid spring blooming tulip
flowering time - april to may
36 bulbs (20" medium yellow)

i had an abundance of blooms in spring of 2005 and 2006. in spring of 2007, i noticed that many of the tulips didn't return. also, my beloved iris had just one bloom. if all goes as planned, i will be planting more bulbs this fall. my main challenge will be finding the right time to do so. i may have to wait until early to mid-november to plant these bulbs and i hope it won't be too late.

here are some photos of the tulips...