Saying Goodbye

The tulip season ended for us today. It was just 30 minutes of work to dig out and bin the 2026 tulip order. I always feel guilty throwing away what seem like healthy tulips but Dutch hybrid tulips, with some exceptions, are best treated as annuals. This year, I had Flaming Purissima, Silverstone, Creme Upstar, and Blushing Beauty, all from John Scheepers.

Lori and I agreed that Flaming Purissima was the top choice but we split on second place. Lori voted for Silverstone, which starts out a purplish pink and then fades to a silvery purple, and I chose Blushing Beauty, which reminded me of rainbow sherbet. Flaming Purissima, unllike the others we selected for this year, does naturalize. I haven't figured out where to plant it, though. I've watched some gardening videos where the owners plant their spent tulips out into the lawn, but those gardeners (often in the UK) tend to have a lot of lawn. I don't. (Left to right: Blushing Beauty, Flaming Purissma, and Silverstone.)