Look inside
This tulip is just about finished and a couple of the petals are drooping down. So this gave me the perfect photo opportunity to look inside.
The colouring and markings are amazing. Without looking inside you would describe this is just a plain red tulip.
Isn't Nature amazing.
The more you look the more you see!
It's that time of year when the tulip, daffodil and other bulbs are finishing and the question comes up whether to cut off the green leaves or not. You should leave the leaves on the plant, just cutting off the flower stem. The leaves provide food for the bulb for next year and this is what gives you a good bloom next year. Some gardeners tie the leaves into a small knot. I've read this isn't advisable, though I did do this years ago. I now plant my bulbs towards the center of the garden so that as the other perennial plants grow they tend to cover the leaves and the bulb leaves can be hidden underneath new growth.
The question always arises when to dig, separate and move bulbs. Some advice is to wait, but once those leaves go I never can remember where the bulbs are planted. Of course you can always ring the bulbs in small stones or markers and as long as the markers stay put you'll have no problem remembering where the bulbs are. I have dug clumps right after flowering so I know where they are. I try to get a large ball of dirt around the bulb and plant it right away. I have had success doing this. You can of course dig the bulbs, dry them, and store them till next Fall.
If you have a tip about moving bulbs or a storage tip please share it in the comments section.
The colouring and markings are amazing. Without looking inside you would describe this is just a plain red tulip.
Isn't Nature amazing.
The more you look the more you see!
It's that time of year when the tulip, daffodil and other bulbs are finishing and the question comes up whether to cut off the green leaves or not. You should leave the leaves on the plant, just cutting off the flower stem. The leaves provide food for the bulb for next year and this is what gives you a good bloom next year. Some gardeners tie the leaves into a small knot. I've read this isn't advisable, though I did do this years ago. I now plant my bulbs towards the center of the garden so that as the other perennial plants grow they tend to cover the leaves and the bulb leaves can be hidden underneath new growth.
The question always arises when to dig, separate and move bulbs. Some advice is to wait, but once those leaves go I never can remember where the bulbs are planted. Of course you can always ring the bulbs in small stones or markers and as long as the markers stay put you'll have no problem remembering where the bulbs are. I have dug clumps right after flowering so I know where they are. I try to get a large ball of dirt around the bulb and plant it right away. I have had success doing this. You can of course dig the bulbs, dry them, and store them till next Fall.
If you have a tip about moving bulbs or a storage tip please share it in the comments section.
5 friendly comments:
Nature never ceases to amaze me. What a lovely look inside the tulip.
Hi Crafty .. so many flowers have amazing "insides". My red oriental poppies always WOW ! me ..
Joy
Nice shot! The innards of most flowers are miraculous in their detail. :)
My mother has dug up bulbs to pass on to me after flowering and they've done just fine. I find it's really easy to see how deep to plant them when the leaves are there! I've trimmed back my tulip leaves a bit so they're not so long and floppy, and they came back the next year nice and healthy. I think the key to doing this is that you don't take off too much!
I've never dug my bulbs up to store for the winter so I couldn't tell you. I don't cut anything off until the following spring when the new growth starts to emerge. Maybe I'm weird that way....
Post a Comment