Neverending Tulip Fields
Dear readers,
Since Carlos is away to see tulips in Kazakhstan, I have the privilege to write another story for you. Spring here in the North Holland province is just wonderful this year and since it is my first spring in The Netherlands, I feel like I am in heaven. All jokes aside: left and right, one color is more beautiful than the other, in all possible purple, red, pink, orange and other tones. It is an endless beauty and I feel blessed to experience this every single day.
This is the biggest field of Tulipa clusiana I have ever seen, must be at least a couple of hectares!
What makes this year a particularly great spring is the weeks-long weather without rain, just plain sunshine and mild temperatures and because of this, many of us saw something rather unusual: when the single late tulips started to bloom, we still had some color in the early blooming varieties, including daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs. Although nature needs good rain, we cannot neglect that this sunny weather is perfect for taking pictures and just enjoying the neverending colorful fields.
This is how Tulipa ‘Purple Dream’ looks closer to sunset, simply magical isn’t it?
One of our important tasks in spring is to always go check on how the bulbs grow, this applies especially to the newer varieties. It just so happens that we visited Jan Hein recently (he lives just across the canal from us), where we could admire one of the newest tulips we offer ‘Brazil’. She is such a happy tulip: strong, grows well, bold colors.
Tulipa ‘Brazil’
On the same field, we had the opportunity to look at the Leo trio: 3 Darwin varieties with unusual strikes, ‘Leo’ is red, ‘Golden Leo’ is yellow with some red stripes and the newer one ‘Beauty of Leo’, which has all possible tones of yellow, red and orange. We think together they look even better, especially if planted in mass.
Do you think we shall create a mix of these tulips? Please let us know via email!
Soon, all of the spring flower power spectacle will be over and we think more and more of summer. Speaking of summer, have you ordered all the summer flowering bulbs you need? Although relatively dry this year, spring has been mostly colder too. Perhaps not all of you made plans for your summer garden, as we still get calls to the office from people asking “Do you still offer Dahlias?” and the answer to this is “Yes, we do”, now it is the time to plant them!
In fact, earlier this week we have put together our first Dahlia Super Mix, keeping in mind the gardeners that really need a lot of flowers during the summer months: a mix of different colors, flower shapes, size and height, a bit of everything.
The first Fluwel Dahlia Super Mix
Growing up, I have always loved flowers in bold colors, especially during the summer months when it is warm. One variety that I have planned for my own garden is ‘Penhill Dark Monarch’, simply because of her color and flower size. I saw her closely last summer and I remember I told Carlos “I want this Dahlia in my garden next year!” and finally I can plant some tubers this weekend.
Dahlia 'Penhill Dark Monarch’
One practical question, and with this I promise to end today’s story, when it comes to peonies, what colors and bud shapes do you have in mind? We are preparing our next collection and would like to know from you something that you particularly love in peonies’ world. As always, please let us know via our email info@fluwel.nl, thank you.
It is late afternoon and I actually need to water some plants in my garden. It is still very dry here and it has been warmer in the last couple of days.
Happy Sunday and until next time,
Vlad Hempel
