#amaryllisbelladonna #mendo #mendocino #diggingbliss
‘Firebolt’ Lily from B&D Lilies, Year 2
What a lovely dark red lily. It’s even taller in its second year, and seems quite happy out front with an eastern exposure. This one is planted in the ground, and I’ve found it very beneficial to use bamboo stakes and green stretchy tape for added support.
It’s Lily Time!
That is all.
2014 Jacques & Jill tulips from Colorblends
It’s hard to believe I’ve been in my house for five years, and that I finally transitioned from renter to owner. When I was renting, I was reluctant to invest time and money in a garden I knew I’d be leaving. Now we own the dang thing and suddenly I can see the potential again. That spot behind the garage? I’m thinking it might be sunny enough for a small greenhouse or cozy retreat. The patio area by the back porch? I want it to have a cafe vibe, complete with shade sails, a table or two and cafe lighting.
As a renter, I saw more of my yard’s shortcomings than strengths. For instance, it’s a smallish lot overall compared to my 1/3ish acre lot home in Carmichael. There’s funky, cracked concrete surrounding the garage that’s begging to be reborn as flowerbeds, and the dominating sycamore in the backyard was oppressively huge and messy and blocked space and precious light. As soon as we bought the house, we sent it to a better place with the aid of Clark @ New Helvetia Hardwoods. The sycamore out front is staying. It faces west and does a great job filtering late afternoon sun.
The existing landscape was clearly a slapdash effort to lure buyers, but it wasn’t built to last. A new blanket of sod concealed decades of Bermuda grass, nutsedge and oxalis. They’d installed a small patio cover with non-mortared cement pavers that is now showing its true colors as boards warp and separate. They’d also dropped in a smattering of cheap Home Depot plants, including wisteria, Spanish lavender and the ubiquitous fortnight lily which were all allegedly being watered by a demonically cursed irrigation system.
When looking at the positives of this property, I have to acknowledge the fact that it is nestled in an immensely charming, walkable, transit-friendly, bike-friendly neighborhood with mature trees, a park, every amenity a person could want, and high resale values. Our spot in East Sacramento is right on the border of the Fabulous Forties and the Thrifty Fifties. It’s bungalow heaven around here.
I also like the fact that I’m a stone’s throw from Trader Joe’s, the post office, two drugstores, restaurants, and pet supply stores. Hell, there’s even a parrot store should I suddenly develop the urge to raise parrots.
Unlike other parts of East Sacramento, my house is also safe from floods, far enough away from the freeway that I don’t hear it and far enough away from businesses that we don’t have customers’ cars parked outside our house much. It’s also far enough away from the controversial McKinley Village development. And the size of our yard, by “East Sac. standards”, is on the larger side. But I digress.
Tulips! Several Fab 40s homes have lovely and lavish tulip borders that are replanted every year. I decided to do a mini version of that along my front flowerbed. The secret to tulip success in Sacramento is to chill your bulbs in the fridge for six weeks prior to planting.
After doing online research, I decided to order my bulbs from Colorblends. I ordered 100 bulbs at a great price and was very drawn to Jacques & Jill, a lively purple and orange blend.
Jacques and Jill Tulip blend from Colorblends
The first thing I noticed when my bulbs started showing color was that they were very much a clear hot pink instead of purple. Because pink clashed with my mustard-colored house, I freaked out a little and e-mailed Colorblends, wondering if I’d been sent the wrong variety. I got a prompt, friendly explanation from Hanneke on their support staff.
Hello Angela,
Thank you for your message and pictures. We appreciate to hear about your spring display.
As for the pink color, we call it a mauve pink, a deep rose color and maybe we should be more explicit next year. The picture in our 2013 catalog (pages 44/45) matches with the color tulip that grows in your garden. What happened with the picture on the web we are not sure, that should be changed and we are grateful you brought that to our attention. That picture need to be changed.
Depending on the weather the timing of the tulip blends can be a little bit off and we expect you will have some orange tulips blooming soon: on the picture we can see some buds peeking through.
We apologize if you are disappointed with the color match, however your tulips look healthy and beautiful.
Thank you again for taking the time to write us and for sending us the pictures.
The purples were much more pink than I’d expected, and the oranges lagged behind the pinks a bit, but the overall spring display was ever-changing and spectacular. I can’t wait to plan next year’s blend. I might even go with a tri-blend that puts on an early-, mid- and late-season display!
As the pink tulips faded, the orange blooms became larger and took on a lovely pink tinge and the pink blooms did take on a bit more purple as they faded. Mauve is still a stretch, I think. Somebody at Colorblends needs a lecture on the temptations of Photoshop! Jacques and Jill tulips are quite lovely without color enhancement and customers should know what they’re actually buying.
I would actually love to try the Jacques and Jill blend again, and since we’re remodeling our house, I think I’m just going to have to get rid of the mustard-colored exterior and go with something more pink-friendly. Pink is one of my favorite colors.
March 31st Update: I finally deadheaded these guys, just as a big storm is rolling in. The pansies I underplanted with are starting to fill out. The curtain is nearly closed on Jacques and Jill.
Tulips and Daffs progress report
Warming temps, miraculous rainfall, and a healthy dose of E.B. Stone organic fertilizer caused these babies to shoot up out of the ground. This is the official bud watch. I’ll report back when there’s color.
The tulips have been planted!
I finally dragged my lazy ass out front to plant my tulips. They’d been chilling in the fridge since arriving from Colorblends several weeks ago. Had they been in there for the full six weeks? I don’t know. All I know is, we got a break in the rain and Thanksgiving is Thursday and I need room in my fridge for holiday food, not tulips.
“What? I thought these were shallots! They’re in the stuffing!”
First, I dug the planting hole. I skipped the bulb auger this time because I had a hundred tulips to plant and realized I should just dig out the entire swath of soil along the front edge of the bed. I actually only got ninety-four of them in the ground. That’s because my basil is still growing and I can’t… won’t… pull it until I make several more batches of dairy-free pesto.
I’ll plant the leftover bulbs in a container. As happens to me sometimes, strange things happened while I was out front. A homeless man walked by and turned back to ask me the time. I gave that to him, but then he… clearly not a neighbor and clearly emboldened by my politeness… asked if I know someone named “Laura” who lives on my street. Dude? Don’t. Even.
“Not at all.”
I replied in a voice that encouraged him to keep walking. When creepy drifter guy was gone, police helicopters started hovering over my street, announcing something from the loudspeaker that I couldn’t quite make out. I think it was about a missing boy. Then a police car cruised by, circled back and then took off. I don’t think the two unsettling events were connected; just random strangeness that punctuated what was otherwise a lovely fall day of bulb planting. Usually, my neighborhood is quite idyllic.
As the afternoon sun waned, the soil came out, the bulbs went in, the soil went back in, the pansies went in, my back began to groan. I didn’t add any granular fertilizer to the soil, so I will hit the pansies with liquid fertilizer in a couple weeks; these bulbs contain all the nutrients they need in order to bloom.
I decided to plant a flat of ‘Dynamite Wine Flash’ pansies over my bulbs. Meg and Michael at the nursery helped me settle on that color over ‘Antique Shades’, which I also liked. The flat sat untouched for a week since my mind was pulled in other directions by other distractions. You can tell by the roots that they needed to go into the ground… stat. It feels good to have tulip planting out of the way. Now we get to sit back and wait for the show.
Guarded within the old red wall’s embrace,
Marshalled like soldiers in gay company,
The tulips stand arrayed. Here infantry
Wheels out into the sunlight. — Amy Lowell, A Tulip Garden.
Angela’s Stock Photography
