This weeks ‘Flowers On Sunday’ is a little different. For the last few months I have been making a weekly trip to the flower stall at the market and using the flowers that I bought for ‘Flowers On Sunday’. This week for the first time since before Christmas I have enough flowers growing in the Cutting Garden to fill the house with, so I am using these for my post.
Whilst I am sure I will still be buying the odd bunch or two from the market, I hope that most of my cut flowers will be coming from my own garden for the rest of the year (well at least until November). As well as being economical this will give me a weekly opportunity to share with you what I am picking from my Cutting Garden.
The tulips started to flower last Monday. First to open was Cilesta, which I used for ‘In A Vase On Monday‘. These were closely followed by Chato and Apricot Impression. Yesterday Orange Nassau opened and a number of white tulips will be in flower any day now. This year was my first year of planting tulips in the Cutting Garden. I ordered 50 bulbs each of a variety of tulips and planted them in blocks of 25 around the edges of the Cutting Garden beds. My plan is to use them all as cut flowers and then replant new bulbs next autumn.
Cost wise I would pay £5 for 15 stems at the market (which is quite cheap compared to florists prices). Generally I paid around £10 per 50 bulbs in the autumn, so it is clearly cheaper to grow my own tulips even if I do have to plant new bulbs each autumn to ensure the best flower size. Ordering bulbs in larger quantities brings the price down even further.
Yesterday I filled three containers with tulips – rather like a glut of tomatoes I like to make sure I use all the flowers to make it worthwhile growing them like this. Unlike fruit and vegetables however, there is very little preparation involved in putting tulips in jugs and vases! When picking tulips from the Cutting Garden I pull them out attached to their bulb – this gives the longest stem length. I then take them back to the pantry where I have a large enamel sink, ideal for preparing cut flowers in. I cut off the bulbs, remove the lower leaves and plunge the tulips into cool water. After a couple of hours they are ready to be arranged. I re-cut the stems to the desired lengths and put them into their final containers.
The first tulip for today is Apricot Impression. I bought these from the Clare Bulb Company, a local supplier that I use every year. This is a new tulip to me. It is an early flowering Darwin Hybrid and I have been amazed by its height and the size of its flowers. You can see the unopened flowers standing tall above the other tulips in the photo above.
Whlist the overall colouring is a beautiful shade of apricot, I hope you can see that there is a pale pink strip running up the length of each petal. This really is an extraordinary tulip.
I arranged Apricot Impression in a large off white jug and have placed the jug in a window in the dining room. For the photograph below I stood the jug on a dining chair, so that you can see how the tulips compliment the colour of the upholstery in the room. When you are planning a Cutting Garden it is good to think about the colours in your interiors and what flower shades will work well.
Next I put together a small posy of tulip Orange Nassau, a double early tulip. I bought these from the Gee Tee Bulb Company. I have grown Orange Nassau before and know that they are a very short little tulip (8-10 inches), so pulling up the bulb helps to give the best stem length. In the garden they have not repeat flowered well – the Cutting Garden is the ideal place for them. The colour is perfect for our downstairs ‘powder room’ which is painted a lovely terracotta shade. A small jug of these tulips will sit on the marble top – I love the combination of blue and orange, so this old pretty jug works well.
Whereas many tulips are bold and architectural in shape, Orange Nassau has more than a touch of a bad hair day! I love it for its shaggy, imperfect appearance.
Finally I have another tulip that is new to me this year called Chato. This is a bulb I purchased from Sarah Raven. It is an early double flowering tulip with a beautiful purple pink peony like flower. I am very impressed with this new addition and will be making the most of it in vases in the drawing room, which has deep red walls and looks lovely with purple and pink flowers.
Whereas most of the house is populated with glass and silver accessories, I always choose shades of gold, bronze and gilt for this room. I like the flowers to compliment the opulent feel and so choose double flowered tulips, peonies, roses and velvet coloured dahlias.
I hope you have enjoyed this weeks tulips and I will be back tomorrow with some more flowers from my garden for ‘In A Vase On Monday’.
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Great photos and lovely tulips, especially Chato. Do you give the bulbs a second chance or treat them as annuals?
I treat these bulbs as annuals Julie – once I have cut the stem from the bulb there is nothing to replenish the bulb for next year so it could not flower well. Tulips that I leave undisturbed in my garden beds however will often flower well for a few years.
Julie Your tuilps are beautiful! My question is also like the above one by second chance does it means you leave it in the ground or dig and replant?
In the Cutting Garden I lift the bulbs with the flower Sajina and will replant next year. In my garden beds I plant the tulips deeply and leave them undisturbed – they often reflowed very well. I usually add a few new clumps of bulbs to the beds every year to refresh the stock and after flowering I will clear out any clumps that did not do well. The bulbs planted in beds in full sun seem to reflower the best.
Beautiful tulips, beautifully displayed and photographed. In other years some of my tulips have been rather short or not grow tall before the flower opened but while it was flowering, I think it must be a climate adaption because this year they are all tall and we’ve had a very wet winter. Good advice about choosing colours that go with your interiors.
That is very interesting Christina – with the warm weather here I am finding that all my tulips are coming into flower at the same time, but the varieties which should be later are flowering on short stems – I have never seen this before. Sadly at this rate my tulips will all be over soon, whereas usually the lily flowered varieties do not come out until late April/early may.
Hi Julie, all the tulips are beautiful especially the peony type. The story of of the big Dutch tulip mania of the 17th century shows how tulips can really fire peoples enthusiasm! How can I best prepare flowers generally before arranging especially roses which I love to be long stemmed but can bow their heads so quickly if bought? Do preparatory chemicals that can be bought help or are they not necessary?
The best treatment for wilted roses Pam is to recut the stem and then submerge the whole rose (flower, leaves and stem) under warm water for about half an hour. Re cut the stem again and put the roses back in a vase of fresh water – the jury is out on floral food, but I use a milton sterilising tablet in the vase water to kill bacteria and keep the vase fresh. It also helps to mist your flowers regularly with a water spray – they can absorb a lot of moisture through their petals. The submerging technique also works with wilted hydrangeas. I must say that this technique will not always work – sometimes the flower is beyond recovery – but it is worth a try.
Marvellous! I’m off to try it now!
Your tulips must bring a smile each time you enter the various rooms where you have them so thoughtfully displayed. Apricot Impression is quite beautiful.
You are right Susie – I have smiled every time I have looked at them! Fresh flowers bring such life and colour to a room. Apricot Impression is holding up very well.
Lovely idea and spectacular tulips arrangement.
Sadly the local squirrel likes mine so have given up on trying to grow them
That is such a shame Sue – you could try a few pots covered with chicken wire until the bulbs start to sprout. I had a problem with my cat using some containers as a litter tray and so disturbing the bulbs – chicken wire solved the problem.
I love tulips in a jug like this – and can really understand your logic in the way you are growing them. I must remember your tips for refreshing flowers – do remind me if I forget, please!
Thank you Cathy – I do worry that it is wasteful but there seems little point in filling the ground with bulbs that will probably not flower again with any strength. It is good to share tips isn’t it – you have made me think that it might be useful if I added a page to the blog with tips on conditioning and improving vase life. I have picked up quite a lot since joining you on Mondays and it is easy to forget these things as the year moves on.
That would be helpful, as you know more than many of us about putting vases together