Tulip Design 4.0 is a Winner
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.


This is lovely. I like woodland gardens, especially in spring.
Posted by: Yolanda Elizabet | April 24, 2007 at 02:30 AM
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.
Posted by: Julie | April 25, 2007 at 12:56 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.
Posted by: Susan Harris | April 25, 2007 at 01:22 PM
Wow Susan! Your garden is looking maaaarvelous!
Posted by: sandy | April 25, 2007 at 05:50 PM
Susan;
What is that luscious-looking groundcover in the right of the picture? Surely it's not moss.
Thanks, Bev
Posted by: bev, | April 25, 2007 at 09:16 PM
Bev, it's creeping sedum, which grows like a weed here and will bloom soon.
Posted by: susan harris | April 25, 2007 at 09:33 PM
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.
Posted by: Layanee | April 26, 2007 at 08:45 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
Posted by: Annie in Austin | April 26, 2007 at 11:55 AM
I went with hot colors this year, but now I yearn for blues, pale pinks, blackish purples, and whites.
Posted by: eliz | April 26, 2007 at 10:51 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.
Posted by: Kim | April 27, 2007 at 03:34 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!
Posted by: bev | April 27, 2007 at 07:14 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.
Posted by: susan harris | April 27, 2007 at 07:25 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
Posted by: marcheline | April 28, 2007 at 01:52 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.
Posted by: bev | April 29, 2007 at 08:31 PM