Idaho Gardener

I am so damn proud of myself. (Yeah, yeah, I know the old adage, pride goeth before a fall.) But I limited myself to 82 bulbs this year. Woops, make that 85. I have three lilies to plant and have no idea when or why I ordered them.

Anyway, I just finished planting 30 darling little tulip bulbs, tulipa acuminata. It took me three years to get my hands on them. I tried groveling at the feet of Brent Heath of Brent and Becky’s bulbs. I whined. I cajoled. None of this was pretty and worse yet, none of it worked. So, I put in an order, about a year in advance and waited. Paid (handsomely, $2.80 per bulb, an investment, right?) and waited. And then they were delivered. Brent and Becky’s catalogue says this about acuminata:

“acuminata - a difficult to find, rare tulip, sometimes nicknamed ‘Fire Flame’ tulip; long narrow scarlet and yellow petaloids with pointy ends; Heirloom 1813; 12″-18″; mid spring. ”

I’ll tell you they are RARE and difficult to find. I believe Brent and Becky are the only ones that carry them. They are sold out (surprise) but you may want to get on the list for next year.

I put all thirty of these in clusters near the front door. Front and center. Where I can keep an eye on them, and hopefully, I’ll be able to admire them in all their spring time glory.

Next in: 40 of the these little wonders: iris reticulata SJ Digt, dark purple. The catalogue says:

“reticulata ‘J. S. Dijt’ - purple with reddish purple falls; one of the latest to bloom and great with Chionodoxa ‘Pink Giant’; 1938.

Very small, extremely early flowering, fragrant iris that are perfect for forcing, rock gardens, woodlands, fronts of borders or creative ‘lawn art’; performs well in all types of soil as long as it’s well-drained; late winter to early spring; 4″-8″; zones 3-9; bulb size 6+cm unless noted otherwise.”

I found these at a local nursery and they were affordable. These are planted near the front door as well. They are so very early that I wanted them where I would see them. They are along the front walk, where I get the mail and come and go every day. If I had planted them in the back garden, I would undoubtedly forget about them.

Still have a dozen of so tulip bulbs, what variety, I have no idea. I think they are the dark pink/fuschia “Ballerina” lily flowered tulips. Love those things. Too bad I didn’t manage to stick a tag in the bag.

I still can’t figure out why I ordered the lilies. Guess I will google the name of them and see if it rings a bell.

For my friend Ed Bruske: I am roasting the short ribs for Dark Day Recipe Number 3. I made a big pot of mixed wild rice (Costco has a big plastic container of mixed, organic rice called Harvest Blend). Also whipped up some cream of celery soup. And coleslaw to go with the ribs. And to think I missed the big football game for all this fabulous domesticity. Uh huh! See me do the booty dance. Uh huh.

For my pal DP, I hope you made it home today. Hunker down, pal.