Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Got Tulips?

The other day my daughter told me to check out "the tulip house" at Hayward and Tennyson, "you can't miss it"! No you can't!










Monday, April 27, 2009

A Favorite Fritillaria


On a snowy day like today, it's great to look back at the blooms I photographed just a week ago.

Fritillaria meleagris, a spring flowering bulb of the lily family, 12-15" tall. Needs a moist, well drained soil rich in humus. Therefore, not a plant for my garden (these photos were taken at Denver Botanic Gardens)!

I love the checkerboard patterning on the petals--can you see it?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Alpine Cuties


Despite the news reports of snow, snow, snow, by yesterday the City of Denver was back to springtime green, green, green!

I spent an hour with my camera at Denver Botanic Gardens and was especially tickled to see so many of the trough gardens in bloom. Most of these are filled with little alpine plants that I know very little (read, nothing) about but still enjoy for their interesting textures and delicate blooms. OK, I’ll hazard a guess and say that perhaps something here is a Saxifraga or a Lewisia.

Although several of our local nurseries offer a small selection of rock garden plants, you may want to check out Laporte Avenue Nursery in Fort Collins. They sell primarily via catalog, but are open to the public by appointment.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Roller Coaster


Despite the recent roller-coaster series of warm days-snow days, the garden is pushing into spring. I love these bright little tulips that are now flowering. Their vibrant color and twisted, stripy leaves are among the first to welcome in the new season. This tulip is one of the Greigii types, probably Kaufmanniana (other colors include pinks, whites and multis). It’s been reliably perennial for many, many years.

Another group of plants showing new growth that is always eagerly anticipated are the hardy water lilies. New, red tinged leaves are starting to grow and make their way to the surface of the water. Water lilies mean summertime to me. Whoo-hoo!