Having photographed several contenders for today’s Six on Saturday, the popular meme hosted by Jim of Gardening Ruminations, I then had to do a cull – but suggest you don’t actually count how many have been included in today’s post!
Let’s start with species tulip T hageri ‘Little Beauty’, a petite tulip with a very apt name, reliably reappearing annually and multiplying gently. With their contrasting deep blue centres, these would make a delightful posy in combination with muscari, but next Monday’s vase is already promised to some of their full-size cousins, now beginning to open throughout the garden. Perhaps it will be some of those in this galvanised tank?
For the time being, spring bulbs continue to be the stars of the garden and in the Coop the hippeastrum I showed last week is going to excel itself, with a fifth trumpet beginning to unfurl – not bad for a £3(ish) bulb from Lidl. I particularly like the greenish hints on this unnamed variety.
Even more exciting than this, however, is the sudden appearance (a hop skip and jump moment, if ever there was one) of Fritillaria imperialis, or Crown Imperial fritillary, which I had been tempted to try again after a discussion last year with a fellow NGS Garden opener. Frankly, I had given up on it, assuming I must have forgotten the advice to plant the bulb on its side, so spotting it emerging amidst hellebore foliage was a joyous moment. I am pretty sure I ordered an orange variety so shall be watching its progress avidly to see if I was right; sadly, it has also been spotted by lily beetles and I picked and dealt with FIVE of the pesky red devils this morning…grrrr! I can spot two of them in this photo – can you?
It’s not all about bulbs this week though, as I have also been admiring this lovely clump of plain-leaved brunnera (this would work well in that posy with Little Beauty and muscari too), with healthy foliage of a corydalis in the foreground and late blooms of Hellebore ‘Anna’s Red’ behind:
With magnolias in bloom in many local gardens, I finally remembered to check our own dark-flowered variety, Magnolia ‘Susan’, and yes, she is resplendently in bud:
Having shared Amelanchier lamarkii in all its blooming beauty on Wednesday, I will finish by confirming how fleeting that moment really was:
And ps, crab apple Malus ‘Evereste’ is now in full bloom!
Rambling in the Garden 
That is the sort of tulip that I want. I have not gotten around to it yet, and when I do, will need to mail order the bulbs. Only fancy hybrids that are not reliably perennial here are available from nurseries.
I just featured the genus of Amelanchier in the garden column for next week (or the week after, depending on the publication). It is rare here, and mostly grown only by those who want its fruit. I just happened to get a picture of it in Washington, where it is more popular.
I think generally the species are mostly only available online here too, but that;s how I always buy my bulbs anyway (and most of my plants, I suppose, to get exactly what I am looking for)
That Magnolia will be stunning.
Yes, it will – it’s not a tall tree, and it took several years before it began flowering properly, but the last few years it has been delightful
Lovely selection Cathy, I’m very taken with those species tulips!
I have another one called ‘Persian Pearl’, but Little Beauty is my favourite
So many beautiful plants blooming and about to bloom, Cathy! Our Tulips are just about to take the stage here, which is truly a special time, isn’t it? The Daffodils have been blooming for weeks because of our cool/cold weather. Happy Six on Saturday!
Yes, still mostly bulbs, Beth, apart from a few Clematis alpina and the apples and crab apples
Very pretty! You are months ahead of us… we still have snow on the ground! 🫤
Months? It just goes to show the different climates, doesn’t it?
All in the jet stream and ocean currents!
I have both Little Beauty and Persian Pearl, they look similar? LB is in a container and back for the 3rd year, but the flowers are much smaller. PP was planted in the ground and seems to have disappeared altogether. And yes, I did spot those beetles, aargh!!
I agree PP doesn’t seem as reliable, whereas LB has definitely increased
Interesting article with some great pictures.
I am an keen gardener and during the year of the lockdowns (2020) I took a photo of my smallish the garden on the first day of month and made it into a video.
This might be something you could consider doing?
Hi Steve, thanks for dropping in. I have in fact included several videos starting, as you did, in lockdown and off and on since then – do go back and have a look, and I will try and find time to check yours out too
Oh no, lily beetle! I grew a single Fritillaria in a pot this year to see if I liked them and decided I did, but if the lily beetle likes them too perhaps I should rethink my plan to put a few in the garden.. Evereste is beautiful! Mine hasn’t flowered this year… I hope that is normal that they miss a year occasionally. 😕
It is the first time I have had lily beetle on fritillaries, so perhaps it was just the Crown Imperial that attracted them? I would go ahead with your plan to to introduce the F meliagris if I was you…