Welcome to this weeks In A Vase On Monday when I am linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to join in with her challenge to find something from the garden to put in a vase for the house every Monday.
This week I am sharing my new love with you. This is tulip Charming Lady and is possibly the most beautiful tulip I have ever grown! I found this tulip on the Peter Nyssen website last autumn when I was looking for some apricot coloured varieties to grow in my cutting garden.
This beautiful tulip has been flowering for about three weeks now and is still looking good. These apricot shades are almost luminous in the garden.
You can see in the photo above that some of the flowers are more towards pink than orange and all have a lovely hint of green in the petals.
Described as a double late tulip, I have been cutting heads since she started flowering and they last perfectly in a vase, aging very gracefully. I particularly like this tulip cut short and displayed in little bottles.
Also on display on the cake plate is my favourite spring shrub Viburnum x burkwoodii. These clusters of domed flowers which are pink in bud but open white are exceptionally fragrant. Although I laid them on the cake stand for the photos, they are now safely in their own little vase. These flowers do not last particularly well once cut but 2 or 3 heads will easily fragrance a warm room. I will cut a few fresh stems every couple of days whilst this wonderful shrub is in flower to get maximum exposure to the irresistible scent. In the garden the scent is always much stronger in the evening, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for some warmer weather so that I can enjoy the fragrance on my evening strolls with the dogs.
Sadly these Charming Lady bulbs are growing in a bed affected by the dreaded tulip fire so I am digging them up and destroying them as I cut the flowers for the house. Ideally I would have left the bulbs in place to see how well they flowered next year, but I cannot take any risks with this horrible virus so all the tulip bulbs are coming out of the cutting beds this year. You can be sure though that I will be placing an order for more of these beautiful tulips to plant in another spot in the autumn – this is certainly a tulip I do not want to be without again!
Have you found any new favourite tulips this year? Do leave a comment and let us know.
Next week I have a very lovely giveaway to go with my ‘In A Vase On Monday’ post – I was given a copy of a beautiful Paula Pryke book called Everyday Flowers that I already have, so I thought I would offer it here. Make sure to check back next week for details of how to enter the draw.
Thank you as ever to the lovely Cathy for hosting – do pop over to her blog to see what she and the others have found this week. Cathy has a real treat for us today – she has been growing flowers for her daughters wedding and made all the bouquets and arrangements herself. Today she is sharing photos of these lovely flowers. Growing for a spring wedding can be very tricky and it is so good to see how all the months of planning have materialised into wonderful posies in just the colours the bride requested – well done Cathy!!
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Julie what a fabulous display and I must say I have never seen this amazing tulip. I have found it here in the US for sale so it goes on my list for the fall. I am creating another cutting bed for tulips and other bulbs so these will be perfect. So sad to hear about the tulip virus….I hope you can eradicate it from your beds.
I am so pleased you managed to find it for sale in the US Donna – I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Oh me too – it is a stunning tulip and I have added it to my list as well. I have Aveyron in the pots outside the kitchen window which I have not grown before and which is a double early one. The shades in Charming Lady though are…well, charming… and look especially effective with the short stems. Thanks for introducing her to us, and for your kind words
I will have to look Aveyron up Cathy – it is not one I have come across. I am so pleased you like my Charming Lady and hope she grows well for you.
Easy to see why Charming Lady is featured this week. Lovely tulip. The colors are reminiscent of sherbet and very luscious.
Thank you Susie – that is a perfect description – they should add it to the catalogue!
Oh she looks rather special indeed Julie. Another for the wish list 🙂 The viburnum is an exquisite companion.
Thank you Anna!
Charming Lady is such a beautiful tulip — I can see why you wouldn’t want to be without it. I hope you can take care of the tulip virus issue — will replacing the soil in the affected bed eliminate it? Good luck! -Beth
My beds are quite large Beth so it would be very hard to replace the soil. The advice is to dig out all the bulbs and then not to replant tulips in the affected areas for 2/3 years – this will give the virus time to die out. It is very frustrating and I am not sure where it has come from – possibly some of the bulbs I planted last year had the virus but you do not know until the tulip starts to grow by which time the virus has spread and affected other areas.
How did I miss this amazing tulip when I was doing my order with Peter Nyssen? I may have to call them to ask if they can add it. I love the idea of displaying these in short vases it really shows them to advantage. BTW I think Paula Pike’s book is called Flowers Every Day, not Everyday flowers. I also have a copy it’s an excellent book, great give away.
Do add it to your order Christina – I am sure you will love it. You are right about the book – I have owned Flowers Every Day for a few years and love it. I was asked by a friend if I already had a book called Everyday Flowers and said no – as soon as I opened it though I realised I already had it – for some reason it has been republished with this new name.
Thank you for introducing me to this beautiful, almost unreal, Charming Lady and also to Peter Nyssen. I’ll definitely be placing an order!
What an interesting post. Your description of Viburnum burkwoodii and photographs sent further afield looking at the qualities of this shrub. It has to been added to my list.
Great tulip, have put it on my list for next year. My new discoveries this year have been Blue Diamond.and Ronaldo.
A truly luscious tulip – thanks for sharing her before she goes. Worth mentioning, perhaps, that tulip fire (which I also have this year) is a fungal disease, not a virus. So some of us have had it rough and it has spread a lot this year due to the awful weather.
Thank you Cathy – I am very sorry that these lovely tulip have finished now. Thank you also for adding that tulip fire is a fungal disease. It certainly seems to be a big problem this year – everyone I speak to has been affected by it.
This really is a beauty! And wonderful photography as always Julie. I do love the double ones, and I fell for my parrot tulip ‘Libretto’ this year.
Charming Lady is now on my list for autumn planting. 🙂
Thank you Cathy – I am sure you will be delighted with Charming Lady – I have looked up Libretto and she looks very pretty. I have added her to my list along with Aveyron that Cathy recommended – I can see there will be a lot of parrot tulips on my list this year.