Welcome to this week’s ‘In A Vase On Monday’, where I an linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to see what we can cut from our gardens to fill a vase for the house every week.
I would like to give a particular welcome to any visitors from my local computer club, who may be popping in tonight to see what is going on after a talk I gave today about the world of blogging.
I have been keeping my fingers crossed that this week would see the start of the tulips and this weekend the early double tulip Cilesta was the first to flower in the Cutting Garden. I have to admit that it took me by surprise as I tend to choose most of my early tulips in gentler shades, with the more vibrant colours flowering later in the season. This reflects my personal choice of tulips for my flower beds as tulips come in all shades throughout the season. This year as I was buying for the Cutting Garden I have chosen a broader range of shapes and colours than usual. Cilesta is new to me this year.
On reflection it makes sense to grow a bright tulip at this time of year as the colours work so well with the forsythia and the kerria that have been flowering for the last week. I love the way they have all combined in this flamboyant outsized arrangement.
If you look at the base of the vase you will see how the mechanics of the arrangement work. I bought this metal arranger from The Real Flower Company at the Chelsea Flower Show a couple of years ago and it has been invaluable for large scale arrangements. It sits in the bottom of the vase and I can then feed stems into the gaps and the flowers will stand upright. At first I was intending to use tape across the top of the vase to create a grid, but tulip stems can be quite thick and I was worried they would not sit naturally in the grid. Then I remembered I had this arranger sitting in a cupboard and it worked perfectly. In an ideal world I would have used some of the discarded tulip leaves inside the vase to hide the arranger. Time was very short today however and I thought it would be useful for you to see how it works.
As these tulips were purchased for cutting, they were planted in the Cutting Garden in early December last year, after the dahlias had been cleared from the bed. To give the longest stem length for arrangements I pull the bulb up with the flower when I pick the tulip, so the bulbs are planted quite shallowly in the ground. I did not need a towel to pick these flowers – a sharp tug and out they came. This has the added advantage of making bulb planting quick and easy.
It may seem wasteful to lift the bulb with the flower, but tulips are not always reliable for future years and in a Cutting Garden you need the largest flowers possible every year. Also it is easier to replant the bed with annuals if you are not working around the dying foliage of tulips. The key is to buy small quantities of a variety of bulbs, so that all the tulips can be used as gifts or in arrangements. Bulbs are much cheaper to buy than flowers and there are so many more varieties available than you will find in the supermarket or florist.
In contrast to the tulips in the Cutting Garden, tulips in my flower borders are planted as deeply as I can manage – I aim for about 8-10 inches. Tulips that are planted shallowly will tend to split and form small bulbs and hence small flowers in their second year. I find that the single early varieties, such as Purple Prince, last for many years. I also have great success with Spring Green and the late flowering Queen of the Night. Parrot tulips, in contrast, rarely seem to reappear as successfully in their second year.
Cilesta is a lovely double that I am looking forward to making full use of over the coming weeks. I purchased the bulbs from The Gee Tee Bulb Company who have a large selection of tulips available from early summer onwards. I expect that I will try this tulip in a permanent planting position in the autumn. One of the beauties of growing tulips in a Cutting Garden is the opportunity to trial a small quantity of bulbs of an unknown variety. I can happily plant whatever I fancy without worrying about how they will look in my main beds. Now that I know how Cilesta performs, I can visualise it in the brightly coloured border behind the greenhouse.
I love the yellow kerria that bursts into flower at this time of year. If I am lucky I will get a second flowering later in the summer. It can be quite a rampant shrub, but responds well to hard pruning.
Also looking lovely is the forsythia that is peeping over hedges and tumbling across boundary walls as I drive around my village. Forsythia is deeply out of fashion at the moment and considered rather common. I would like to see it return to favour as it is a remarkably versatile shrub. You can grow it on a single trunk as a small tree, cut it into pleasing shapes like topiary, make a vibrant hedge from it, confine it to a small space or allow it to ramble freely in a country setting. It is also perfect for adding height and movement to spring flower arrangements.
I am looking forward to sharing more tulips with you throughout April. I seem to have tulips about to flower in every bed and in contrast to last year I think it is unlikely that many will wait until May. Cilesta was sold as flowering in mid April and is already out at the end of March!
I hope you have time to pop over to Cathy’s blog to have a look at what she and the others have made this week.
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Beautifully photographed. I like your bold choices for your arrangement this week Julie, starting with that gorgeous blue vase. Cilesta is a beauty and it is interesting to read how you work with tulips and your cutting garden in general.
Thank you Susie – I am hoping to keep up the Cutting Garden commentary as the season progresses. I have just looked at your lovely spring vases – we all have so much to learn from each other!
Cilesta is a new one to me Julie. It looks fabulous with the Forsythia and Kerria. I was thinking today when I was in the garden that if Forsythia was rare and new we would all be bowled over by it. It sometimes pays to look at old favourites with new eyes.
Your arrangement is so stylish as usual.
I look forward to meeting you on the 1st May.
I completely agree Chloris – I have had two people walk into the kitchen and ask what the fantastic yellow flower is – both were amazed when I said it was forsythia.
I am looking forward to meeting you too.
I found your method of planting and picking tulips really interesting. I’m very close to starting my own Cutting garden). I’m hoping I’ll be in time to plant tulips and other bulbs. Just wondering…..if you pull out the tulip bulb and all….can you not re-plant the bulb later on?.Lovely arrangement! Your tulips are just beautiful.
Thank you Sarah – unfortunately in order to cut a long stem most of the foliage is removed from the bulb when you cut it off to make the arrangement. Without sufficient foliage to feed the bulb as it dies back the bulb would not be strong enough to make a good flower the next year. You could always dry the bulbs and replant them in the autumn to see what happens, but I would be surprised if you were rewarded with a strong flower.
These must have been the very same tulips I bought at the market yesterday and I am enjoying them in my kitchen. I’ll post an image on Instagram if I remember…
In our old house, where we lived for 25 years, I always dug up ALL my tulips at the end of the flowering season and would start fresh in the fall! I just do not like to chance it with color and height etc. And, each spring I would have a totally new color scheme to present to the world! yes, I think my neighbors really enjoyed it….
That is funny Libby! Can you grow tulips where you are or is the climate not right? I am glad to hear that you are not shocked that I intend to use and replace my Cutting Garden tulips. In the main beds I tend to stick to colour themes and just add a few new clumps each year – so far I have found that the early tulips repeat flower quite well.
Thank you Julie for all the information about how you achieved your arrangement. I will have to check on the supplier for arranging as I have a lot of difficulty (unless I use oasis) of keeping stems where I want them. All my tulips are much taller this year, I imagine because of all the rain we’ve had this year. I will have to think about what you said about pulling up the bulb too; I don’t have a problem in thinking of tulips as annuals, I always used them in that way in the UK. When you say small quantity do you mean about 25?
Thank you Christina – I think you will find an Arranger a worthwhile purchase. By small quantity I would say between 25 and 50, depending on how many you think you are likely to use. I would often use 20 in an arrangement, so will plant more if I know it is a tulip I like.
Suffice to say, the Computer Club was given a treat. Well Done!
Thank you Peter – once I got going I quite enjoyed myself – much to my surprise!
The Cilesta tulip looks perfect with the kerria and forsythia – and a great advert for growing tulips for cutting. So some tulips you have grown in the greenhouse and some in your cutting bed? It’s becoming such an education this ‘in a vase mem’ – thanks for your contributions to this. I have bought some pin holders this week – so watch out for them in a vase soon!
This year all my tulips are growing outside Cathy – I did grow some successfully in the greenhouse last year, but missed planting any there this year. In the greenhouse this year I have had iris reticulata, crocus, muscari, Paperwhites and hyacinths. I am also keeping my fingers crossed for the ranunculus. I am looking forward to seeing your pin holders in action – I have not bought any yet so it will be interesting to see how they work!
In pots outside? I started various tulips in pots in the greenhouse but moved them outside a couple of months back in case they grew too quickly. I planned to sink the pots into the borders once they started to flower.
sorry not to be able to attend talk yesterday ,met Cathy today by chance and she filled me in .FANTASTIC DISPLAYS ,you are superbly talented ,beautiful .
from Theresa Tate
Thank you so much Theresa!
Hi Julie,
Thanks for visits and lovely comments!
You have a beautiful garden and I love how you have a separate cutting garden – what a pleasure and how much fun to experiment and try out different flowers.
Your post is full of inspiration and information – I have to try the trick of planting shallow and pulling up the whole bulb.
Have a lovely day!
xoxo Ingrid
Thank you Ingrid – I have seen your blog today and am so jealous of all your lovely vases! I am looking forward to seeing what you and Titti do tomorrow.
Julie, your flowers and arrangement are very beautiful. They really arenbold colours but very attractive too. Thanks for information about planting tuilps.
You are welcome Sajina – I would guess that you haven’t planted any tulips for this spring as you are so new to Canada. I hope that you are planning what you will grow next spring!