My Favorite Tulips

I spent a lot of time designing and planning massive tulip displays at the Dallas Arboretum for Spring Booms, as well as testing bulbs varieties in the Plant Trials Program. Not to mention, lots of tulip growing in my own Texas gardens.

While December weather can be less than inspiring when it comes to getting out and digging in the garden, there is a lot to do this next month if you want a colorful spring garden. December is the time to plant your tulips in Texas. I’ve grown many a tulip in my day, but there are a few standouts that continue to make their way into my own garden. I thought I’d share a few of my favorites.

‘Temple of Beauty’ is a true stunner in the spring garden. If you really want to go bold, this tulip is the way to go. A single, late hybrid, ‘Temple of Beauty’ has a larger bloom that most other single-lates and is a vibrant orange with salmon tones along the petals. You can mix this brightly colored cultivar with tulips in shades of pink or yellow for a cheery combination. Blooms on sturdy stems will easily reach 30 to 36 inches tall. This variety is a hybrid cross of the lily-flowering tulip ‘Mariette’ and a variety of Tulipa gregii. The result, ‘Temple of Beauty’, is a triploid bulb with excellent vigor and gigantic blooms. In fact, it’s probably one of the largest flowering cultivars of tulip in the world. Many sports of ‘Temple of Beauty’ have since been developed, and the group is often referred to as Giant Lefeber Hybrids, after Dirk W. Lefeber, who bred the original ‘Temple of Beauty’ cross.

‘Blushing Beauty’ and ‘Blushing Lady’are two such sports and are also among my tulip favorites. If you want the size and vigor of ‘Temple of Beauty’, but would prefer something a bit subtler in color, these are your gals. ‘Blushing Beauty’ sports large blooms with a yellow-apricot blend and rose-colored base. ‘Blushing Lady’ has a similar color pattern, but edges of petals blend to a brighter lemon yellow. Lily-flowering hybrid flowers will open upon sunny days, revealing color variations inside the flower. These hybrids can be mixed together or mixed with other single, late tulips for a stunning show.

It doesn’t get any better than ‘Maureen’for a white tulip. This classic single-late will never disappoint. Purewhite blooms are tightly formed and stand on sturdy, erect stems that grow up to 30 inches tall. ‘Maureen’ is lovely planted by itself or mixed with darker-blooming tulips for a contrasting display.

If you’re looking for something that blooms earlier, but still want a sturdy, reliable performer, you must try ‘Ollioules’.This giant-flowered Darwin Hybrid tulip is technically classified as amid-season bloomer. In our climate, however, it is usually one of the earliest tulips to bloom. ‘Ollioules’ produces violet-rose-colored petals edged in silvery-pink. Because of its two-toned color pattern, there is no need to mix this beauty with another tulip, as it stands out all on its own.

When and How to Plant Your Tulips

Be sure your tulips have been pre-chilled. In order for tulips to receive a proper vernalization, and thus develop a flower bud, soil temperatures must remain at a constant between about 45 F and 50 F degrees. In our climate, that doesn’t usually happen. Because our winters are not consistently cool enough, and our summers are too hot and dry, hybrid tulips typically will not perennialize in Texas. They must be pre-chilled and re-planted each year. There are a few species tulips that will make return appearances, but they are much smaller in size than the classic “Dutch hybrids.”

The best time to plant your tulips is when soil temperatures have reached 50 F or below. That is typically after Thanksgiving. I’ve found that the second and third weeks of December are usually prime time for planting tulips. I recommend getting your tulips into the ground before the end of December, and I urge you to plant them deeply! By planting your tulips6 to 8 inches deep (from the soil surface to the top of the bulb) you will ensure that your bulbs bloom at the right time and not too early.

The Pox must be tapering off at this point because the gals have started laying again. I think I can also now officially say that all 5 are laying. I do believe that Phyllis, the Polish, has just started laying her first eggs...she is obviously a very late bloomer. I've tried to identify which chicken is laying which eggs, well, because I think that's fun! Each bird will lay a specific color egg, and always lay eggs close to that color. The different breeds obviously also have differences between size and color. Here is my best guess at this point:

From left to right, Honkers, Eunice, Pecker, Phyllis and Einstein. Now, I do think the pox is still effecting some of their egg sizes. Einstein's eggs were bigger pre-pox and molting, so I expect they will go back up in size a bit. Same thing with Eunice (the sage green egg). I expect hers to go back up in size a bit too. You can see the difference between Phyllis's (Polish) eggs, which are more elongated and a lovely pinkish color and Einstein's (Houdan) which are pure white and more round.

I must say, Honkers is laying some honkin' big eggs right now! On the left is a large organic free-range egg from Whole Foods. On the right, is one of my eggs. My yolks are much more orange than the WF eggs as well. I must say that I think I'm kinda kicking WF's behind!

It was a beautiful Sunday and the bees were out makin' hay while the sun was shining. I have a lavender passion vine that is still blooming like crazy right now and the bees are much appreciative. I try to have plants blooming in my garden as close to year-round as I can so the bees have something to feed on. It comes in handy when you need them around to pollinate your veggies or fruit trees. Just thought you guys might enjoy this photo.

A lovely bouquet of roses for you this morning...just plucked from the garden. The scent is divine.

Cultivars include: 'Abraham Darby', 'Tamora' and 'Perle d' Or'.

PC: Leslie F. Halleck

So, my little Einstein...that was originally supposedto be a Polish hen, is not a Polish hen. Now, as the girls developed, it became more and more obvious to me that Einstein was making a departure from Phyllis in the looks department. Phyllis's hair just got bigger and more impressive, whereas Einstein's never really got any fancier than when she was a pullet. Phyllis's waddles came in pretty good sized in the last two months...Einstein..nada. Phyllis has also gotten a good bit bigger than Einstein. Einstein has feathers on her legs...Phyllis does not. I kind of knew that Einstein's feather pattern really wasn't Polishesque. Now, I guess I've just been too busy to bother investigating this divergence of appearance. But I've been inspecting them a lot more lately (because they have the Pox) and it just couldn't be ignored any longer. After a tad bit of research, and some toe counting, it appears I have myself a Houdan...

Einstein, the mottled Houdan

Houdans have five toes total, Polish have four. That's the clincher. By the looks of it Einstein is a mottled Houdan and may even be a bantam at that. She's the smallest of all the gals, but was the first to start laying. Phyllis has continued to grow, but Einstein has stayed much smaller. I have to say, I'm kinda glad to have a Houdan. I'm already planning my spring 2010 acquisitions...still trying to decide what to get...anyone have any votes?!

These are the cutest violas! The 'Four Seasons' Viola series is a mounding/spreading type of viola that has a bit better heat tolerance on average. They don't trail quite to the degree that 'Purple Rain' does, but they really fill out a container or basket nicely. They produces masses of small blooms. This is definitely my favorite new series of viola to come along in a while...and now just happens to be the perfect time to plant them.

Viola 'Four Seasons White & Pink Wing'- stunning. A lovely combination of white and lavender/pink. Tons of blooms.

Viola 'Four Seasons Purple & Bronze' - a very unique color combination, love it. The plants look really full.

Viola 'Four Seasons Blue & Yellow' - a more traditional color combo, but it looks like it's going to bloom gangbusters.

I used to have a kitty cat named Pierre. He was super sweet...and super pretty. A blue Russian type mutt, Pierre never met a stranger. He loved his mommy and would have been happiest if I just carried him around in a papoose all day. But, seeing as he weighed about 22lbs..that was just not going to happen! Anyhoo...I had to put him to sleep last summer. Very sad. Pierre had a special talent...a talent for sniffing out the very moment an orchid flower was about to open...so he could eat it. Yes, eat it. I used keep a bevy of orchids in my house, but due to Pierre's tastes that collection dwindled. I have a penchant for Paphiopedilums (slipper orchids), but those were some of Pierre's favorites. I even resorted growing them in glass cookie jars so I could keep a lid on them until they bloomed, but it never failed that Pierre would chomp the flower off just as I removed the lid to let the bloom emerge. Well, now that Pierre has moved on into the Light, I've started "acquiring" again. Here are a few new lovelies...

Paphiopedulum hybrid (Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Raisin Pie 'Hsinying') x Sib

Paphiopedulum hybrid (Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Raisin Pie 'Hsinying') x Sib

Now...both of the above are labeled as the same hybrid, so I'm going to have to do some research on those...

Paphiopedulum hybrid (Ninja 'Conquest' HCC/AOS x Oriental Enchantment 'Clarity')

Ok, so chicken pox (that we get) and avian pox (that chickens get) aren't the same things...but my chickens got it...the avian pox that is. Mosquitoes were so bad in September with all the rainfall, that they must have transmitted it to my birds.

I started having a drop in egg production about a month ago. One of my Polish stopped laying completely but I thought it was because she was molting. Then I got 3 eggs with no shell...which I also figured were coming from Einstein because of her molting. Then I started to see scabs showing up on her back where she'd lost feathers. Thought the other gals were just picking at her. But, 3 days ago, the telltale scab spots started showing up on everyone's combs or waddles...What a bummer! Everyone is eating as normal and none of them seem to be having any respiratory problems, so I'm hoping it just manifests itself in the cutaneous form and won't get too bad. I'm still getting about 1-2 eggs a day, I'm assuming from the two biggest girls. I got some xenodine I'm going to apply to the one that's molting and try to get a bit on the rest's combs...but they don't really like being handled too much, so we'll just have to see how that goes!

You can read more about Pox here: Backyard Chickens.com So for those of you in the area with chickens, keep an eye out for it. There is no treatment other than vaccination, so you just have to ride it out and make sure they are eating and drinking normally.