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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINALLY springing? (PART THREE of FIVE) ASK THE MUSCARI FAMILY AND THE ARRAY OF TULIPS!


Cam and her soon-to be named beau are still very much in love as evidenced by the image atop today's entry, where they can be seen beating yesterday's Monday morning blues by doing you know what. Their passion for each other (as first seen and heard in another post here on Blogger) is stronger than ever and they may need to get a room!

And now, dear reader, that I've caught your attention with a "racey" romance, I'll get back to my regularly scheduled program for today, where I've been slated to bring you part three of my series (which I introduced in this past Friday's post here on Blogger) where the "things" I grow will answer the question: Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINALLY springing?


In this post, my various flowers (which I have in my garden) will weigh in with me re their answers to this question. We'll begin with the opinions of my Muscari family and my various Tulips, which are (to some extent) showcased in the image seen directly above, which is an aerial view taken by Juan V after the last time that he and I worked together in my garden.


And so without further ado, we begin part three:

In the image above, the two double-sided white arrows are indicating where my muscari family is growing. They were newcomers to my garden in 2012, and I had some reservations this 2013 spring about their return from the 2012 growing season.

This is because they had undergone an enormous upheaval when I had a "so-called" renovation in my garden (in September of 2012), where in preparation for it, I had to — among other tasks — uproot my Autumn Clematis (AKA Donna's Legacy).

The autumn clematis is a vine who "lives" in the same container as my muscari bulbs; and it is a vine which, at the time of its being uprooted, had already endured a transplant in April of 2012!

Thankfully my fears re the muscaris' come-back were unfounded, as you might surmise from the images below where you see it thriving!






I like the "pose" of the muscari in the latter of the images because it looks as if he's playing "crossing guard," and signaling a right-hand turn!

A little distance to the left of the muscaris, is where my Tulip Couleur Cordial's are now blooming; as indicated in the larger of the two circles which I superimposed on Juan V's image (the image that "begins" this discussion re my flowers' 2013 spring experiences). This is the first year that I've grown the couleur cordials (their bulbs were planted in October of 2012).

Their colors are awesome as of this posting; however due to the "chaotic" (temperature wise) onset of spring, their growth got off to a slow start; and their first sign of them "waking up" for the season was not until April 20th 2013!    

Images of one them "joining the garden" can be seen below.




However, while they may have arrived late in the spring, their long winter's nap must've given them energy, as evidenced by their growth progress, which can be seen in the following pictures.

4-24-13
4-24-13
4-25-13
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4-26-13 
4-26-13
The growth process of my couleur cordials has been so spectacular that I wanted to share it with others in the form of a Virtual Story (mini movie), as I had done with my Kauffmaniana Tulips last year, when I featured them (animated) both in a tribute to Tiny Tim, and in "videos" (including one you may view by clicking here) for a campaign which I had on indiegogo last year. When I make this "type" of Virtual Stories, I often use an "extra" camera which can be left outside.

Therefore, in preparing to document my couleur cordials' 2013 growth, my friend Victor helped me set up my camera ("aiming" it at my tulips), but it seems that Victor was not the only one willing to help me with my project! Yesterday, a mourning dove alighted on my tri-pod, 



telling me he/she wanted to be my photo-assistant, which he/she felt could be useful since it's "common knowledge," that when "subjects" are being filmed they should "watch the birdie."

Perhaps the mourning dove was right, for yesterday, April 28th, when the dove was "working" as my photo-assistant, the couleur cordials went to great lengths to be on camera, as you can see in the images below.






It is raining as I write this post, which is nourishing for the "things" I grow, but hopefully, the rainfall will not "knock off" the petals of my couleur cordials or any of my other tulips for that matter! 

The Tulip Tarda, another "late sleeper" this season, is a yellow and white variety, which has come back from last year's growing season, making this the  second spring in my garden for my tardas!

Because the tardas were here last season, they have already been included in a number of posts here on Blogger as well as on tumblr. Moreover, they have been featured in my garden-themed Virtual Stories (mini movies), including one which you may view by clicking here.

As for their "appearance" this 2013 season, one of the sets of them can be seen in the smaller of the two circles which I superimposed on Juan V's image (the image that "begins" this discussion re my flowers' 2013 spring experiences). 

They had quite a struggle this season and were slow (almost shy) starters,





but then they quickly (less than four days) acclimated and produced flowers as seen in the images below.





My variety of tulips known as Parrot Blumex, a variety which like the tardas "returned" for the 2013 season (after having been here in 2012), did not fare as well as the tardas or the couleur cordials in terms of its flowers.

The parrot blumex took a long time to arrive on the scene and was "spent" within a day as seen in the images below.







Fortunately, because the parrot blumex family, like the tardas, was here last year, it has already been included in a number of posts here on Blogger as well as on tumblr. Moreover, this family has been featured in my garden-themed Virtual Stories (mini movies), including one which you may view by clicking here.

Additionally, I truly appreciate the "spent" aspect of  "dying flowers": firmly believing, what the playwright, Herb Gardener wrote, "The very old, they are miracles like the just born, close to the end is precious like close to the begining." In fact, this "end of life" stage for the "things" I grow was the impetus for launching my campaign on indiegogo last year.

And, my "spent" parrot blumex tulips hold the distinction of being considered for a 2012 art competition in New York City.

Meanwhile, my variety of tulips known as Curly Sue Tulips, a variety like the tardas as well as the parrot blumex, also "returned" for the 2013 season (after having been here in 2012). 

And like the parrot blumex, they did not fare as well as the tardas or the couleur cordials in terms of their flowers.

The curly sue tulip variety seemed frozen in time once they appeared as a buds (seen an the image below which represents the way each of the curly sues looked, which is in opinion, was quite "ballet-like," as I indicated in a posting on one my Pinterest Boards).



In any event, all of the curly sues remained in their "bud stage," before opening up to catch some rays as seen below.





And this morning, one of the curly sues was playing with my Thom-Thumb's foliage;



the thom-thumb as you may recall received a fantastic hair-cut from Juan V last Wednesday which was described in part one of this series.


As was the case with my tardas and parrot blumex family, because the curly sues were here last year, they have already been included in a number of posts here on Blogger as well as on tumblr. Moreover, this family has also been featured in my garden-themed Virtual Stories (mini movies), including one which you may view by clicking here.

The other variety of tulips which returned this season was my Kauffmanniana family; last year was their first year in my garden (as was the case with my tardas, parrot blumex, and curly sues) and they were the first group of tulips to bloom, which they did quite early in the season as documented in an entry here on Blogger in March of 2012 and were subsequently featured in a number of posts here on Blogger as well as on tumblr. Moreover, this family has also been featured in my garden-themed Virtual Stories (mini movies), including one which you may view by clicking here.

In any event, the 2013 season was quite different for the kauffmannianas; they were — as was the "scenario" the last year — the first ones of all my tulip families to waken from a winter slumber as described in a previous entry here on Blogger, but because of the chaotic weather which followed (including snowfall) they truly struggled and have had a short-lived 2013 season which can be seen in the images below.


(This image appeared on one of TLLG's Pinterest Boards)
(This image appeared on TLLG's tumblr Pages)
(This image appeared on TLLG's Blogger Pages)





Even though the kauffmannianas' 2013 season was ever so short, they live on in my heart as well as in my cyber-space endeavors, including my screen-saver which can be seen below.



And though the kauffmannianas' 2013 season may have been shorter than usual, a consolation for me as well as them is that at least the were here, for brief as their time was, it was longer than my Snow Parrot tulips who did not return this year. Juan V feels perhaps because of the long winter and rough start to spring, my snow parrot's bulbs might've been too tired.

So there you have it, dear reader, the conclusion of part three of this five part post and the muscari family as well as the array of tulips have weighed in with me re the burning question: Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINALLY springing? 

In part four of this series, you'll hear from my vines, but meanwhile, how about you, dear reader; do you think spring has sprung?


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