Tiptoe through the tulips

[Tess (Tassie D)]

We took our youngest daughter to the tulip festival near here the other weekend. Talk about colour, wow. I loved seeing all the variations and thought I'd post a few snaps on here.

[glennab]

Tess, your photos are beautiful.  I so love tulips, and they don't grow in Florida.  What glorious masses of color!

Is that Bethany in the first photo?  And your pooch?

Thanks for sharing the splendor.  Awesome!

GK

[Mhayes]

The colors are beautiful and the sheer number of tulips is impressive. Is this strictly for viewing pleasure or do they sell them commercially?

I think the pooch is wondering what the game plan is with your daughter.

Margie

[Hannie]

Tess I know what you are trying to do, make me homesick so I'll cut my vacation short and get back to work!  :knuppel:

Just kdding, your photos are beautiful, I love the colors!

Thanks for sharing,

Hannie

[Tess (Tassie D)]

They sell them to anyone who wants to buy them Margie, bulbs and cut flowers. They do have a huge commercial production to cover the northern hemisphere in their off season. Needless to say we always come home with more bulbs for the garden.

Glenna the trick with tulips in most places is to put the bulbs, for 6-8 weeks in the crisper of the refrigerator (not freezer) prior to planting will ensure the longest possible flower stems. Plant them near the end of winter and you should get some.
Yes thats Bethany in the first photo with my Mum's Shitzu. My dog would go tearing through the tulips. ;D

Hannie I knew you would love the photos, wasnt trying to make you homesick though.

[Johnboy]

Thanks for sharing the tulip photos. They sure are beautiful. It is at least another 6 to 7 months before we see them again here. Makes me think of spring. Of course it is spring for you upside down people.

Glenna I don't know what time of the year you tried to grow your tulips, but you might do as Tassie suggested and then plant them in January. It may be cooler then than later. While I haven't gardened in Florida I have read about it. As I understand the crops and flowers that grow in the summer up north are best grown during the winter in your area. You might stick some of the bulbs in a pot and put them on your kitchen table to enjoy. If you put them in the refer now they should be ready to grow in January. The main object is to get the bulbs chilled for the 6-8 weeks. If they go longer that won't hurt. Have fun!!! 8)

Johnboy

[glennab]

JB & Tess:

Because of your comments, I think I'll check online and try growing some tulips.  I've read about the "chill factor," but never tried it.

The problem with Floridians is that we're totally spoiled when it comes to flora.  One can put a bare stick in the ground, as i did a few years ago, and have a frangipani tree taller than a house without lifting a finger.  I can cut a tip off a hibiscus bush, plunge it into a pot of soil, and have unimaginably gorgeous flowers within 6 months.  So chilling bulbs sounds like work to me! (You're right, JB, that the summers make up for the beautiful winter plants we enjoy so much.  BUGS!  HEAT!  WILTED PLANTS!  YEAR-ROUND GARDEN WORK! SNAKES LIVING AMONG THE PLANT POTS! It's a pity.)

I have a green thumb, and Lon threatens once in a while to paint it brown, because I can't resist creating new plants and then he has to machete them down when they take over Gulfport.  I described our routine in one of our other threads: Lon gets fed up with jungle.  Lon chops plants to the ground in the back yard.  GK sees that there are aerial roots on some of the cuttings, so GK grabs a shovel and plants all the remains in the FRONT yard.  Next year, vice versa.  Chop up front yard, plant in back.  Another good way to keep at least two old farts off the streets!

GK