So much is growing and blooming around my farm, including the showy, bright-colored tulips!
Tulips, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes, are perennial plants that open up each spring. They're grown for their graceful leaves and bright, cheery blooms. Some are traditional and cup-shaped, some have fringed petals, others have pointed ones, and some are full of fanciful ruffles. Some varieties even carry a soft, subtle scent. Many of my tulips are from Colorblends Wholesale Flowerbulbs in Bridgeport, Connecticut and The Flower Hat, a floral design studio and farm in Bozeman, Montana.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
It’s so exciting to see the swaths of color in the garden beds after a gray, dreary, cold winter. Look at these bright pink tulips.
Last year, just before Thanksgiving, we planted all of our tulip bulbs in a handful of raised beds in the vegetable garden. These look so healthy. Any kind of bulb should be firm and free of soft spots or visible rot.
All tulips are planted in the fall and bloom in the spring. They grow best in zones 3 to 8 where they can get eight to 12 weeks of cold temperatures while under the soil.
Each bulb is placed with the pointed end faced up. This is important for all bulbs. If the pointed end is not obvious, look for the flat side of the bulb, which is the bottom.
The beds were raked carefully so as not to disturb any bulb placements. Finally, they were left to nature for the duration of winter.
Then by mid-April, the foliage starts to emerge. The broad, strappy leaves of tulips have a waxy coating that gives them a blue-green color. There are usually two to six leaves per plant.
And soon after come the blooms. Tulips have a fascinating history. Although closely associated with Holland, tulips were first cultivated in Turkey. The name tulip is believed to be derived from the Turkish word for turbans, “tulbend,” because of their resemblance.
Tulips are perennial, spring-blooming plants. They are grown for their graceful leaves and bright and cheery flowers.
Tulips hold many different meanings around the world. In Western societies, they represent love. In Persian and Turkish traditions, tulips signify spring and renewal. Dutch cultures associate tulips with wealth and prosperity.
They gained popularity in Europe in the 17th century, peaking in 1636 to 1637.
And yes, Tulip Mania was real! It was a period during the Dutch Golden Age when prices for some tulip bulbs reached extraordinarily high levels. It started around 1634 and then dramatically collapsed in February 1637.
Tulips have been hybridized in just about every color except blue. Most tulips have one flower per stem, but there are some multi-flowered varieties.
Tulip ‘Sanne’ has impressive, elegantly tapered flowers that open deep rose-pink and creamy-pink edges. As it matures, it turns lilac-pink with pink-ivory edges.
‘Rosy Diamond’ has double blooms in shades of rose-pink splashed with tones of magenta.
‘Verona Sunrise’ shows off a blend of apricot, blush, and buttery yellow that deepens as the bloom matures.
This red tulip is accented with white edges.
Tulips need well-drained soil. Sandy soil amended with some organic matter is perfect. They also prefer a slightly acidic soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5. I am fortunate to have such great soil here at the farm. In these beds I use Miracle-Gro Organic Raised Bed & Garden Soil.
There are currently more than 3000 registered tulip varieties, which are divided into at least 15-groups, mostly based on the flower type, size, and blooming period.
Tulips require full sun for the best display, which means at least six-hours of bright, direct sunlight per day.
And do you know… tulips continue to grow after they are cut? Tulips grow about an extra inch after cutting and bend toward the light. Kept well-watered and away from heat, tulips can last about a week.
Most tulip plants range between six to 24-inches tall. Taller ones should be shielded from any winds, so they don’t topple over.
Tulips are stunning when planted en masse. By planting varieties with different bloom times, one can have tulips blooming from early to late spring.
My gardeners have been very busy in my large, half-acre vegetable garden. Last week, they planted the season's onions which were all started from seed in my greenhouse. The seeds came from Johnny's Selected Seeds, a source I've been using for years. Onions, leeks, and shallots are all part of the genus Allium. They are hardy, thrive in full sun, and are easy to grow in a variety of soils and climates.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This day was perfect for planting in the vegetable garden. Onions should be planted when temperatures are still a bit cool and then warm when they begin to mature. Early planting gives the onions time to develop tops and store energy for the bulbs.
I always grow my onions from seed. Onion seeds are less expensive than other growing options such as sets and starts. Starting onions from seed can also offer a wider variety of onion types.
I started my onions in mid-January. Onion seeds are very small.
My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, starts the seeds in trays, dropping them slowly and carefully, so they are evenly distributed along the rows.
Here they are just five days later in my Urban Cultivator.
And here they are a few weeks later – growing nicely in my greenhouse. Because I use a lot of onions for cooking and for sharing with my family, I grow lots of onions.
And then last week, Ryan took them all out to plant in the garden. Onions are closely related to garlic, leeks, shallots, scallions and chives.
The soil in all the beds was amended and fed. Here, Ryan measures the bed for proper placement. Healthy green plants should be 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep in rows 12 to 15 inches apart.
Ryan creates the rows using a bed preparation rake from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Hard plastic red tubes slide onto selected teeth of the rake to mark the rows.
Matthew separates the plants and picks the most robust ones to plant first.
He places each one down in the row a few inches from the next.
Onion roots are slender, thread-like structures that grow from the bottom of the bulb, with some thicker roots storing nutrients and water.
Using the dibber, Phurba carefully positions the plant with the root end down and pushes it into the soil about two-inches deep until all the roots are well covered.
A dibber or dibble or dibbler is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground so that seeds, seedlings or small bulbs can be planted. Dibbers come in a variety of shapes including the straight dibber, the T-handled dibber like this one, the trowel dibber, and the L-shaped dibber.
Phurba makes sure the top of the plant’s neck isn’t covered too deeply. If too much of the plant is buried, the growth of the onion will be reduced and constricted.
It’s a tedious job, but Phurba and Matthew get through pretty quickly.
Here is the tray of red onion plants also ready to be put into the ground. The beds include red onions, white onions, yellow onions.
Onions are categorized in two growing types: long-day and short-day. Long-day onions begin sprouting in late spring to summer when days are between 14 and 16 hours long. Short-day onions begin sprouting when days are between 10 and 12 hours in length – winter and early spring.
We’re off to a wonderful growing season – it won’t be long now before I have bounties of fresh, nutritious vegetables.
The gardens at my Bedford, New York farm are changing every single day.
One of the most anticipated sights on the farm is my herbaceous peony garden in full bloom. No garden is complete without these beautiful plants, which show off their large, imposing flowers in May and June. True perennials, herbaceous peonies can live for 100-years, becoming more impressive over time. This week, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew tended the beds - adding food, mulch and compost, and then carefully staking all the rows of plants so the massive flower heads don’t droop to the ground.
Enjoy these photos.
In April, the herbaceous peonies begin emerging from the ground, but they grow very quickly and need to be supported to protect the large heavy flowers. My peony garden is planted with 11 double rows of 22 herbaceous peony plants, 44 in each row of the same variety, all surrounded by a hedge of rounded boxwood shrubs, making it a focal point on the property.
Phurba begins by cleaning and weeding the beds. This is still easy to do since the plants are small.
Instead of rings that are available at many garden centers, I use these metal stakes I designed myself for my own farm.
Matthew starts by inserting a stake every four-feet up and down both sides of each row.
Each metal support has two eyes, one at the top and one in the middle. The stakes are about three feet tall.
Once they are in position, they are pounded down several inches deep into the ground.
This year, I decided to line all the footpaths with an industrial strength weed cloth to cut down on those pesky weeds. Weed cloth is available in a variety of widths, but the fabric can also be cut to fit if needed.
As the weed cloth is unrolled and positioned in the space, Matthew inserts a garden staple. These are placed every couple of feet on the edges and in the center to ensure the fabric stays in place.
After the weed cloth is put down, wheelbarrows of mulch are brought into the garden.
Arnold drops manageable mounds of mulch in each row.
Chhiring then spreads an even layer over the weed cloth.
Meanwhile, Ryan feeds the peonies with azomite. Azomite is a natural, broad-spectrum mineral powder mined from volcanic ash. It contains more than 60 essential elements, including magnesium, calcium, potassium, silicon, and many micronutrients. It helps remineralize the soil for optimal growth, flowering, and resilience.
The paths look so wonderful topped with mulch.
The next step is to cover the beds with compost. I make my own mulch and compost right here at my farm.
Do you know the difference between the two? Compost, which is decomposed organic matter such as horse manure and leaf mold, enriches the soil with nutrients, while mulch, which is mainly wood chips, protects the soil surface, conserves moisture, and hopefully keeps weeds away.
Like clockwork, the buds are now forming.
Right now, the tallest plants are still just about a foot to a foot and a half tall – a good time for staking.
We use a natural jute twine for this project and for many gardening projects around the farm. Twine like this is available in large spools online and in some specialty garden supply shops.
Phurba begins lacing twine through the middle stake eyes in a zigzag pattern all the way down the row.
This technique allows support from every direction.
Twine is threaded through all the top holes following the same pattern. Here, one can see there is about a foot of space in between the top and middle eyes – enough room to support the stems at different levels.
I designed the eyes to be big enough for the many threads of twine. These have worked so well for me over the years.
Here is what a row looks like all done – very neat and tidy, and every peony plant supported by twine. The stakes and twine create such an artistic and geometric pattern. In just about five to six weeks, rows and rows of stunning pink and white herbaceous peonies will be flowering here at my farm.
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