Spring is Tulip Time

 

Tulip Time at Longwood Gardens, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is a spectacular affair.

Hundreds of thousands of tulip bulbs are planted by volunteers in the Fall.  Many of them

are brand new varieties provided by various nurseries.  One of my favorite parts of the gardens

is the "Idea Garden," which contains 350 plots 6x6 ft. with 300 flowers of one variety and one

color, so that visitors can get an idea of what they might like in their own garden next year.

Benches allow you to sit and soak in the color and atmosphere.

I like big, showy flowers.  These were large and highly dramatic.  "Akebono" is a double

late tulip in intense yellow with red streaks.  It is only about 12 inches high.

Close-up of "Akebono" flowers.

Whites come in many varieties from pure snow white to cream.  These are rather small

flowers, perhaps 10 inches high, named "Tres Chic."  They are among the lily-tulips,

so called because of their outward spreading petals.

A bed of white "Tres Chic" tulips. 

The flower beds spread out in all directions.  Here you can see the carillon tower on a hill

in the distance.  It plays beautiful music every quarter hour.  On the left are some

flowering crabapple and flowering cherry trees.

Yellow tulips come in many forms.  These were one of my favorites this year, "Hocus Pocus."

They are tall, 26 inches high or so.  They are of a bright but light yellow shot through with

streaks of red and orange.  The blossoms themselves are quite large, 6 inches high.

Beautiful colors of "Hocus Pocus."  Each flower is different.

A bed of "Hocus Pocus."

A very different yellow tulip is "Fair and True," a peony-tulip, so called because
 it consists of so many petals that it looks more like a peony than a tulip and it is very large.

A cluster of large "Fair and True" peony-tulips.

A great panorama of rich tulip colors.

"Orange Princess" is another double late peony-flowering tulip.  It is so full, with
so many flower petals, that it looks more like a peony than a tulip.

 "Orange Princess" peony-flowering tulip.

The gardener said this was a new variety for this year, "Blue Heron," a fringed

lavender tulip.  Frilled tulips came in every color, but usually on the small side.

"Blue Heron" fringed tulips.

I don't remember the names of all flowers the first time I see them, but Longwood, like all

good botanic gardens, maintains a webpage listing every flower in bloom on their premises,

so I can always go back and check the references.

These are three of the loveliest of the tulips: "Blushing Beauty" (pale yellow), "Carola"

(rich warm pink), and "Garant" (egg-yolk yellow).  The trellis along the right side will hold

a hundred varieties of climbing Clematis later in the year.

Big, bold, brash!  This is one of the "parrot tulips," characterized by large ruffled flowers.

This spectacular beauty is "Bright Parrot."

A bed of "Bright Parrot" parrot tulips.

Same colors, but very different feeling is "Mona Lisa," which is also on the small side

and is one of the lily-tulips - notice the spreading petals of the flowers.

A bed of "Mona Lisa" lily-tulips.

Up on the hill in back you can see the front of the Conservatory.  Here the light pink flowers

are "Marilyn" and behind them is another of my favorites this year, "Lighting Sun."

"Lighting Sun" single late tulips.  They are medium in height, about 16 inches high.

They have cousins called "Lighting Fire" and "Lighting Glow."  All appear to be glowing

with redhot embers inside.  Looked at against the sun, which is what I am doing here,

they glow.  And as I watched them over four days, they changed colors, gradually fading, 

like a fire burning out.  The first day they have very dark red and very bright yellow,

and then each succeeding day they became a little more subdued.

But here is a bed of "Lighting Sun" at their hottest.  I like them.

Wow!  This tulip is nearly 12 inches across; I had never seen such a thing.  This is

"Weber's Parrot," another of the very large, splashy parrot tulips.

 A bed full of "Weber's Parrots."

This is the entrance to the "Idea Garden.," through a grove of trees down the hill from the

Conservatory.  In the background is the "Trial Gardens," where they grow new fruits and

vegetables and have many different flowering fruit trees.  There is also a children's are

and some fountains for playing in as well as watching.

"Pink Impressions" is a beautiful, big pink tulip with dark green foliage.

A bed of "Pink Impressions" tulips.

"Clearwater" white tulips.  They were tall and nearly transparent.

A bed of "Clearwater" white tulips.

View across tulip beds of "Idea Garden" to Carillon and wooded hillside.

"Garant" yellow tulips.  Notice their variegated leaves, which are unusual.

A cluster of "Garant" yellow tulips with variegated leaves.

"Carola" pink tulips.  They have a lovely form with petals which seem to unwind

around the stem.  The pink color is strong but pure.

A bed of "Carola" pink tulips.

I'm sitting on my favorite bench as I take this picture.  The red in front is a bed of "ABBA"

and the orange to the left is "Orange Princess."

"Holland Chic" was a favorite with every photographer.  The sunlight coming through the

blossoms was incredibly subtle and beautiful.  These are also lily-tulips and not very

tall; but their color is so special, everyone stopped for a picture.

"Holland Chic" lily-tulips.

"Perestroyka" ia a beautiful soft orange tulip, with slight streaks of pink and yellow.

Bed of "Perestroyka" tulips.

Enjoying the tulips at Longwood Gardens.

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