Changing moods of Shirley tulips

Shirley tulips are one of the last spring bulbs to bloom for me, so it always bittersweet when she opens. The sweet part of Shirley is how the blooms mature. They're cream color when they first open

Then become white with a purple edge in a few days

She starts blushing a few days later

This is what she looks like when fully mature
And then comes the bitter part, knowing that spring bulbs are done until next year.

Great idea showing the different look of the blooms as they mature. Shirley tulips are ones I am wanting to get for planting this fall as I don't have any of them.

Nice! What is that yellow-flowering thing in the background?

lisabees -- the shrub in the background is Kerria japonica 'Picta' which is completely covered in flowers now and flowers sporadically for the rest of the year

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/76639/

Your Shirley tulips are beautiful. It's wonderful how they change colors as they mature.

I agree with you Cem -- and this is the 3rd year I've had them without digging them up -- it can't get much better than that :-D

jxmas- How deep did you plant them? I want to order some this fall. I did add lots of tulips last fall and am hoping for a good return on them.

Between 6-8 inches, I wasn't exact in my digging.

The only other things I do are work some generic slow release fertilizer (usually MiracleGrow bloom booster) into the dirt around the bulbs when they first poke their heads up in spring and let the leaves die on their own. I probably would get bigger/more flowers if I fed them a proper bulb fertilizer twice in the spring like everyone advises us to -- but I don't have time or cash for that :-)

Good luck!! I hope they perform and return as well for you as they have for me.

Thanks!

I just bought bulb fertilizer to use on them now that they (my daffs and tulips) are finished blooming. I can't remember what type of fertilizer I used on them first thing in the spring.