April in my garden is one of the most beautiful months, colors are soft, trees are leafing out... everywhere is green and fresh, it's difficult not to be mesmerised by it.
My tulips are better than ever this year, this is the 4th year I have these same tulip bulbs and they are not showing any signs of fading, I suspect this area of Portugal has a pretty good climate to perennialize tulips.
It is very important for the tulips to be warm and dry in the summer, they like to be baked by the sun, but they can´t stand to be warm and wet, in this conditions they can easily rot and die. So I stop watering tulips as soon as bulbs go dormant, also we receive virtually no rain after June until september, right when the weather starts to be fresher, and that helps a lot to keep bulbs in good conditions. But, I never plant tulips in full sun, they perform better in dappled shade in this country, they still get all the light and heat they need, full sun is too much for all the Dutch hybrids.
Does anyone growing tulips in zone 9 has a similar expirience?
Other plants that stand out in the garden this time of year are: Scilla peruviana, the portuguese squill and Armeria, which is also a native. Scilla peruviana bulbs like to be divided every two years or so in order to bloom properly. They form big clumps with no blooms after few years.
Hardy geraniums are not very common in this country, but they start to be appreciated by some people. they are grown mostly as a shade plant and their beautiful flowers can bring interest for many months to a less visible area of the garden. They need a good mulch every year.
My cherry tree is in full bloom now and I hope we can get a decent crop this year. It´s a young tree though, last year we only had its first cherries...
“What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.”
― Kobayashi Issa
How is your cat? OK? I see a battered front leg, but climbing and jumping still?
ResponderEliminarHi diana, the cat is now fine...he is still a bit scared sometimes, it was a nasty fight with another male, a stronger and bigger cat.
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