Tulip Design 4.0 is a Winner
April 23rd, 2007 
by Susan Harris
I’m really, really liking the latest results in my tulip border. Those 50 Blue Aimables I planted here are joined by what can never be predicted - occasional repeaters from previous years’ designs. The key just may be to, of course, try something new every year but all within a compatible mix of colors. So here you see assorted China Pinks and Cum Laudes and Esthers popping with the Blue Aimables.
I can promise you more photos where this came from - when the tulips will have the blooms of azaleas, viburnums and weigelas as their background. I’m just being impatient to show you these now.
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April 24th, 2007 at 2:30 am
This is lovely. I like woodland gardens, especially in spring.
April 25th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Beautiful, Susan. Is that a pink dogwood reaching out at right? This luciousness is a world away from our Central Texas gardens. Also, SVP, what time of day did you snap this?
J.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Julie, oh yes do I ever have dogwoods - both the native kind (the ones that haven’t been killed by anthracnose) and some Asians, even a hybrid of the two kinds.
This photo was taken very early in the a.m.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Wow Susan! Your garden is looking maaaarvelous!
April 25th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Susan;
What is that luscious-looking groundcover in the right of the picture? Surely it’s not moss.
Thanks, Bev
April 25th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Bev, it’s creeping sedum, which grows like a weed here and will bloom soon.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:45 am
I love the blues of spring! I get tired of the bright yellow. I will add some of these to the ever growing list and I am determined to order the bulbs as soon as I get the catalog instead of waiting until the last minute.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:55 am
What a beautiful photo along with the good idea about keeping a compatable mix of colors in an area. I’ve seen ‘Blue Aimable’ used in a mass planting on their own, Susan, but much prefer your planting in a bed surrounded by groundcovers, woodlands and other pretty tulips.
Annie
April 26th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I went with hot colors this year, but now I yearn for blues, pale pinks, blackish purples, and whites.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
How gorgeous! When the azaleas and such bloom too, it will be an absolutely knockout. I was going to ask about the groundcover, too, so I’m glad someone else beat me to it.
April 27th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Susan;
I live in your area and am interested that the sedum seems to be growing in significant shade? Is this sedum ternatum (white flower) or some other kind? I know, there are tons of them and I can’t keep them straight either. perhaps time and color of bloom will help me if you don’t know the species.
Thanks!
April 27th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Bev, actually that’s a sunny area - the photo is very early morning - and it must require sun because it doesn’t spread into shady areas. This fabulous mostly evergreen creeping-type sedum - and I wish I knew the Latin - blooms gold, not white.
April 28th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Hey!
I’m so glad to find that I’m not the only one who is wondering “did I imagine planting all those different bulbs?”… reading back through your recent entries, I see you are having the same experience.
I just called the nursery in TN where I ordered my bulbs, to make sure I wasn’t having “tulip amnesia”. I wasn’t. I ordered a “Darwin variety” AND a “fringed variety”.
Guess what’s blooming in my garden right now? Red tulips. All of them, red. None fringed. No purple, orange, black, or anything else.
Well, there’s that ONE tulip that’s half red, half yellow. It looks a bit confused.
I’m hoping perhaps the other varieties are just going to bloom later on…???
Cheers, and thanks for the insight!
- M
April 29th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Susan;
Thanks, that’s the same sedum I have then; and my experience has been similar regarding sun and shade. Darn, I thought you had found one for shade! Thanks for the extra picture and no, I have never figured out the species name for sure either.