A lesson in abundance – Filoli Garden
There are tulips – and there are Tulips. As I strolled around the magnificent Filoli Garden in San Francisco last week there was no doubt that these were TULIPS.
For the most part these had been planted in simple, terracotta colored pots so that the flamboyant flowers could be brought out for display when each variety reached its peak. Both the tulips and I reveled in the warm spring sunshine – life seemed to slow down.
Pots were clustered together on steps, in doorways and used to flank pathways. Every garden had its own color scheme which the tulip displays highlighted.
Where tulips were planted in the ground they were corralled by manicured boxwood hedges, vibrant under the dappled canopy of the flowering cherry trees.
But this is a grand estate garden with a team of 14 full time horticulturalists, numerous student interns and more than 100 volunteers. What can the typical home gardener take away from this?
I see my lesson as being abundance. Rather than planting just a few tulips in my mixed containers I like the idea of filling simple pots with just one tulip variety, and waiting to display them until they are in full bloom. Perhaps a succession of colors in different pots? Maybe I can just plant them in black nursery pots and slip these inside my decorative pots when the moment is right?
The other thing I learned? It's OK to sit once in a while and simply enjoy them.
The tulips at Filoli are beautiful! For a few years I've been doing what you suggested: planting tulip bulbs in black plastic pots and then sinking them into decorative pots. It works great! Some of the pots at Filoli looked quite shallow. I'm wondering what the shortest pot is that you can get away with.
After viewing your post on Filoli, I knew I had to visit it while in the Bay Area this week. The tulips and daffodils were still in their glory as were the wisteria and lilacs. Thanks so much for your post!
I'm so glad you got to visit Pam! Aren't they just so beautiful? Thanks for letting me know
I really loved seeing your tulip pictures. I am quite smitten with tulips myself. I wrote about them on my blog I have just begun: http://whatsthebuzzin.blogspot.com/