Late Spring

A week later and the Poet daffodils (Narcissus poeticus) are blooming. These are a "geranium" type, with multiple blossoms on each stalk. They are fragrant, but only if you are nearby to notice. They came back quite well from last year.

The Red Emperor tulips have since finished blooming. Orange tinged tulips, and the Monsella tulips are now opening. I do not remember the exact type of orange tulips or where I got them from last year. The shorter later-blooming Monsella tulips are yellow with red stripes in them, and open wide in the sun. Although I am pleased with them, they do not resemble the pictures in the catalog, being smaller and less defined in shape.

Late Bloomers

One of the two new varieties of daffodils that grew for the first time last year are beginning to bloom now. The Lemon Chiffon daffodils have creamy white petals and long cups with a lemon yellow color. The lemon color gradually turns to a creamy peach after about a week. These easily multiplied after the first year, so some were lifted last spring and planted last fall for this year.

Red Emperor tulips are now blooming. These are the earliest 'big' tulips to come out. I tried orange emperor a few years back, but they did not bloom at the same time as the reds - a week or two later, and they did not come back or multiply well. Experience with Red Emperors is that each blub splits into 3 bulbs after blooming. Each resulting bulb is not quite as big as the original, and may or may not produce a flower the following year.