About my garden

Monday 3 April 2017

In a vase on Monday - First tulips

Yes at last! I've been admiring tulips in other people's posts, and even bought a few (I know you're shocked), but now I have my own ones flowering. 

One day they were in tight bud and suddenly there was the colour. 




I've collected some honeysuckle foliage. It's just the bits hanging down waiting to catch my face as I pass by to a water tank. 
Also some Euphorbia shoots. I'm not sure what variety they are. They have seeded from somewhere. I always use gloves when cutting so I don't get the sap on me. I strip the lower leaves then hold the stems in a jug of just boiled water for 20 seconds. This seals them and they last very well in a vase.
The tulips are Darwin Hybrid mixed which were free with a bulb order. I put them in my cutting patch so I'd be happy to chop them.  The red ones have come out first with a couple of salmon popped in here too. It's very organised of them to come out one colour at a time.

I wanted to tuck the flowers into foliage as I know they'll open and flop around. Also they are quite bright so this tones them down a little. 
They have opened quite a lot in a day and are very bright.  


We have had a beautiful weekend, weatherwise. We gave ourselves the day off on Sunday and visited Hestercombe. A beautiful garden, developed over 300 years, in Somerset.  Trees, shrubs, walks, bulbs in full flower, cafe, shop...


It was warm and sunny, a perfect day out. It's that time of year when it can look like summer but the trees are still bare. 
Then today we have woken to a ground frost. It pays never to be complacent when you are a gardener. 

For interesting and colourful vases from around the world visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden - In a vase on Monday.

15 comments:

  1. Everyone seems to be experiencing extreme twists and turns in terms of climate these days, myself included. I'm glad you had the opportunity to enjoy a nice spring day outing during one of your warm, sunny days. Thanks for sharing the beautiful tulips!

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    1. They are more open now and as I suspected, quite floppy.

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  2. Your tulips are gorgeous. Look nice with the foliage choices.

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  3. Gosh, I honestly thought these were roses in bud and not tulips. What a surprise, indeed!

    Thank you for the tip on sealing the Euphorbia stems. I had no idea.

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    1. Ah, no rosebuds yet but lots of lovely new growth on the rose bushes.

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  4. All the foliage has set your tulips off beautifully!

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    1. They do zing together now the flowers are open. It's a much less organised arrangement.

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  5. Your tulips are splendid, and look so perfect with the mass of green foliage. I shall remember your boiled water technique for euphorbias. I usually take a lighter out with me and singe the end as soon as I cut it. It works, but I have a feeling your way might be a little less fraught than watching white sap sizzle over an open flame... ;-)

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    1. Maybe but your way sounds more fun. I enjoy watching things burn. (Am I giving away too much about myself?)

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  6. Lovely! I think the idea with the foliage to prop them up is one I will pinch when I have tulips for picking. ;-)

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    1. It was a good idea but I've learnt from Julie at 'Peonies and Posies' that the tulip stems keep growing after they are cut. So now they are taller than the greenery. It does give some support even so.

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  7. Love the tulips and the foliage made them prettier.

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  8. Those tulips are beautiful! Mine got zapped in the freeze:(

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