Saturday, May 01, 2010

Mayday Tulips

It's Mayday today traditionally celebrated here with Maypoles and Morris dances. I can remember as a child dancing around the maypole with a long ribbon. It is an early celebration of Spring, for the agricultural workers to have a day of rest after all the crops have been planted.
Outside the backdoor this pot has been planted with mystery Tulips and bulbs, with the Blue Parrot Tulips. The mystery Tulips have bloomed in a mixture of pink and white colours. The Statue I bought from Spring Green nursery. A woman in a classical pose. If I had a big garden I would have a life size marble statue. Until then I have this three foot version to pose by the Tulip pot..

Its like Strawberry and Vanilla ice cream swirls on this Tulip. It is bordering on frilly the petals so does not hold a normal Tulip shape.

This one looks more like a Peony or Camellia flower but it is still a Tulip. I have about a dozen varieties growing in the garden. They all need digging up and labelling, before being transported to the new house.
Crocuses give you hope after a cold winter. Daffodils make you smile. Tulips are like the torch bearers for a hot barbecue summer. Their myriad of colours have caused avarice in gardens since the Dutch used to sell the bulbs as commodities in the 17th century.
My favourites so far have been The Queen Of The Night Tulips, and the Lurid Red Parrot Tulips in the border. The pot above has the Blue Parrot Tulips but they have not opened their flowers yet. I'll post about them when they do.

2 comments:

Sue Swift said...

We used to dance roud the Maypole at primary school too. Not sure if the teachers knew its origins as a fertility rite ... :)

Shirley said...

Love this tulip flower shape. I had never realised there were so many different flowers until a couple of weeks ago. Just to say that I’ve added this post to a bit of a tulip photo fest I’ve been running all week. You can see it here. If you’ve any more tulip pics you’d like to share :-D