Even More Tulips and Rock Wall Pictures

The blooming of the tulips makes a colorful show in our yard for the first two weeks of June. I love it. I only wish I could go perennial shopping to fill in spots where some other plants died over the winter. Unfortunately, RLM doesn't think that the 580 km round trip for a few plants is really justified and I have to agree. Reluctantly, of course. Instead, I'm getting my perennials for free! Yeah, I'm digging up my own plants and dividing them. It's a little boring, but effective.

Here are some gratuitous pictures of dry-stack rock walls and tulips for your enjoyment!

Both of the raised beds amid a lawn that needs some rehab:

The larger raised bed, looking towards the road:

Alchemilla mollis in the foreground and Negrita (purple) and Zurel (white/purple) Triumph tulips in the back:



Single late tulip "Menton" in front of "Negrita" tulips.

Some of the larger perennials are starting to grow too tall in front of the tulips!

The white blooms of wild pincherries make a cloud in the background.

Everything but the Dandelions

Here are some shots from this evening, cleverly trying to avoid the untidy lawn full of dandelions. It's very embarassing, but the lawn shall have a haircut tomorrow. RLM has promised.

The rose bush is just starting to grow some foliage. I'd call that a bit tardy!

Otherwise, the air is a bit smoky here, though not enough to smoke out the bugs. I flew over northeast Saskatchewan today, noticing at least three fires. Back at the airport, I also noticed that several water bombers were missing from their regular parking spots. There was a moderate sized fire with a large grey mushroom cloud rising from it northwest of La Ronge. It's the season of fire again.

Tulips in the large raised bed:

The summer of 2006 brought fires that forced evacuation of people with respiratory disease. Rather non-reassuringly, we were told that as critical health care workers, we wouldn't be allowed to leave until the hospital was burning down (or something to that effect). I envisioned us paddling away from the ashes of town in a canoe. While I don't think it would ever come to that, I have the feeling that I'd be taking the family dog and leaving town far before that point.

Seed heads of Pulsatilla vulgaris (pasque flower):

At least the fires can kill off the plague of spruce beetles. Yeah, those BC people used to think that their pine beetles would be killed off by cold winters. Our winters are brutal, yet the forest-destroying spruce beetle marches on.

Seedlings of something growing around my potted tomato.

I threw some compost in here, so it could be anything we ate in the past six months. I'll tempted to grow one and find out what mystery plant we have here. I'm guessing a cucumber.

"Tumbling Tom" cherry tomato looking fabulous and sporting some nice little tomatoes:

Fragrant Narcissi and Finally Some Tulips

The raised beds are now blooming with color, with all but the single late tulip varieties in full bloom. Here's the larger raised bed, showing some obvious bare spots. I'm hoping to get some new perennials to fill in the "holes". It would be really nice to have some short flowering perennial to sprawl over the rock wall edges. I'll be working on that for next year.

Here is double late tulip "Blue Diamond", which is open only in the morning and early afternoon, closing by supper. From a distance, you can't tell that it's a double-flowered tulip, so it blends in with the single blooms of a similar-colored tulip. I'm not totally impressed, but the close-up shot is pretty.

Double late tulip, "Blue Diamond" from above:

Trumpet Daffodils and Negrita Triumph tulips:

An oddly side-facing "Zurel" bi-colored tulip.

Poetaz Narcissus "Geranium" has got to be my favourite narcissus (not that I have an extensive collection). It is beautiful and smells absolutely wonderful, two qualities that any gardener might personally strive for! Here it is in the sloped rock garden.

Another photo of Bergenia cordifolia's flowers, just because I really like this perennial a lot:

Bright morning sun on the tulips:

Aha! The Papaver somniferum (breadseed poppies) seedlings are coming up! I let last year's plants self seed and a nice number of plants has come up in the back of the raised bed this spring.