Urns by the back door. The euonymus hedge is in need of a trim!
Cibarius' Container Bulbs
How old are your yew shrubs? I have some that are about thirty years old, and they are going strong. I prune them every year so that they narrow toward the top. Otherwise, I have done nothing special for them. They are a very hardy plant. In contrast, my boxwoods were destroyed by a sharp winter in 1985. I replaced them with compact hollies and more yews.
I'm not sure when the yews were planted. The house was built in 1953 and I suspect they were planted then. I bought the house in 2000 and I've done my best to maintain the many yew hedges, but I keep losing plants. Here's an example of the problem I'm having. The "Princess Irene" tulips in the urn were forced in the ground and I moved them to the urn in late March.
Great looking bulbs this year, Leawood!
Cib~~You mentioned where I picked up my bulb growing techniques~~I read a lot about gardening in the international press where they tend to be a little more inventive than we in the States as far as gardening is concerned and also from horticulture mags and I joined the American and Local Daffodil Societies a few years ago. Also by trial and error... after I discovered that I could manipulate bloom times by using Mother Nature's weather patterns and portable pots, I was 'good to go' at least for the time being while my son is living at home and willing to move my experiments from my winter cooling setup outside under a huge pile of leaves, to the sunny garage windows, and in and out of the house as required! He is a doll to do that for his old mom!
Birder, I do plant my used tulips in a 'holding bed' just because I can't bear to throw them out, but never have had a lot of luck getting them to come back. We have loads of squirrels that devour them. And deer and rabbits eat the unprotected green shoots too. And fresh bulbs can be got fairly cheaply at the end of the season so I do it that way. My daffs of course mostly come back.
About the amaryllis~~for a while I was totally hooked on South African amaryllis (had about a hundred), would grow them in clay pots under lights and then repot them along with whatever forced bulbs were in bloom. They made some spectacular centerpieces at Christmas with Ziva narcissus in wonderful Delft blue pots, etc. I have since taken a hiatus from Amaryllis for a variety of reasons, although I love them. The South African Amaryllis (available from Van Engelen), by the way, generally bloom earlier than the Dutch and can be in bloom over the holidays.
Cib, Yes, I know transplanting tulips, daffs, muscari, etc while they are growing or aka 'in the green' sounds weird and is seldom done in the States, but I heard about it from my English girl friend who has a wonderful garden so tried it and it's as easy as pie. I'm always re-arranging my bulbs while in bloom now to make my garden look better and for indoor displays and outdoor urns. (I'm not as organized or as precise as Leawood when I plant!)
Well, I've gone on too long. But I love bulbs and they always get me going! Sorry.
Love your pics everybody!
A closer view of the "Princess Irene" tulips in an urn. They are dependable and long-lasting - a real 'keeper' for me!
I forced "Apricot Beauty" tulips for this urn. Unfortunately, my cat likes to get into this urn to watch the rodents at play in my garden, so the tulips are a little bedraggled.
OOOOPS! Somehow, that photo got on its side... Sorry!
I've grown all kinds of bulbs in pots and never buried them since I had them on a 6th floor balcony. They do just fine. I live in Denver. Here's one pic.
Here's lilies in June.
revclaus: so pretty- a nice combination.