The wrong colour!

thanks janerowena , I was surprised how alike all the bulbs are once they are dried I would of thought they would all be different sizes but of course some are mature bulbs and some just bulblets (is that a word?) never thought about looking at the colour of the bulbs I'll give that a try. Also maybe I could mark the bulbs with pen as someone else suggested they do on the leaves of tulips , maybe that would work too.

They do grow like weeds here, I have a fine sandy soil.

tanith, take the bulbs out of the pots once they have died down. Dry them off spread apart in a box lined with newspaper. Look at the bulbs and see what colour they are. The colour of the bulb (of a mature bulb, not a little young one) is often a good guide as to the future colour. Darker colours have darker bulbs quite often.

missed out the THem

Jane you are sooo lucky I can"t get to do anything in my garden.
I think they are so pretty ! Such delicate petals !

I always dry my pots of daffs each year and replant in the pots in the Autumn, trouble is I have lots of different colours/sizes/shapes and once they are out of the pots drying they get mixed up and I can't tell which is which, hence this year I have pots with Tete a Tete mixed with tall yellow daffs and Jonquil and yellow and various different colour and shape daffs.
Anyone got a fool proof way of telling which are which once the flowers have died down? Then at least I would be able to group the same height/colour together.
Having said all that I actually don't really mind them mingling together its just some big showy ones hide the small delicate ones.

My Californian poppies are just coming through, tegan! Won't be long now.

I write the colour on the tulip leaf in indelible felt tip just before the petals fall. I always dig up my tulips anyway so this means I can bag them up in the correct colours. It's those first-year bulblets which are just leaf and no flower that always get replanted in the wrong colour group! Can't win.
No deer here at least no roaming wild. I have a lovely old highland recipe for venison stew Bags if you're up for a bit of poaching culling?

OH yes Nonu, I've always done most planting in groups of 3, 5 or 7 (ish) can't remember who told me to, its just always been there in the back of my mind.

When I plant my bulbs , get Mr N to make a "Slit" with the spade , put in 3/4 bulbs.
Get a better "show" than with single bulbs dotted about !

It happens a lot doesn't it?Annoying if the plants cost a lot, like some lupins we planted 2 years ago, nothing like the colours we wanted and very pricey too.

Which reminds me that my californian poppies should be coming through soon. I caught my neighbour pulling them up once [in MY garden ] and I said 'they're my poppies' to which he grunted and said 'hmph, you mean poppy weeds'. grrrr

And nice to have something that reminds us what sun looks like....!

Tegan, I am a late convert to orange - its a jolly colour in the right place.....its just that I fancied something a bit gentle and tasteful (unlike myself).

.....mind you wrong coloured bulbs aren't as bad as the blue wisteria that my ex planted in his new garden; having waited years for it to grow and flower it turned out to be white .

I never wanted orange in a garden until a few years ago when I suddenly liked it; I think it was having a pot full of million bells in a mixture of orange, red and purple that did it; orange and purple now being my favourite colour combination [I always plant lots of heliotrope [sp]].

I thought my tulips were planted randomly, a mix of pale cream and a purple but they have grown in colour groups! I reckon they moved after I planted them!

I do sympathise. I have a front garden pink and white border. I ordered some white gladioli to stand in a clump at the back and they are scarlet! I dug them up and handed them to a friend who has a rainbow border, but they like my soil so much that they bred new corms fast and I still get the odd spike of red. I just pick them now.

Likewise at the very front to the road, I have a beech hedge and planted a large row of cream narcissi before it. Some of them are yellow. Again, as soon as I see that they are the wrong colour, I pick them. But it's very annoying and happens often. Iris reticulata Harmony instead of the Cantab that I wanted - Harmony from three different sources over four years! In the end I had to buy Cantab while it was in flower in a pot to be sure to get the one I wanted.

I think nursery workers don't have the time they used to, to be more careful. It's all a big rush. I speak from experience.

Absent - for aesthetic reasons only, most herbs reach their peak late summer and until then it can look a bit thin, the tulips add a bit of structure and colour whilst there are gaps. I have deliberately chosen short lilly shaped ones that do not dominate, hence my gripe at the orange colour. White and pale yellow looked suitably demure!

My tulips all got a bit squashed in the recent hail storms

Oh to have tulips that didn't get eaten by roe deer. Any colour would be just fine!

Why not have tulips in a herb garden ?
Bet they look pretty apart from the colour not suiting of course !

Hope mine will flower this year, because last year the shoots all got bitten off by either a pigeon or a squirrel! I don't mind what colour they are as long as they survive!

I have planted lots of dark purple and white tulips in the borders a few years ago- but a few have turned out to be bright yellow with red edge- I meant to dig them up and replant elsewhere- but of cours by the time they had faded, could not remember which was which- so this year I'll tie a bit of raffia around the stem. Will dig them up and plant on the other side of the house this year.

How about enjoying them this year- and then dig up, dry and give to a friend who likes the colour- or replant in pots for the front of the house for next year. Tulips do look great in a herb garden, I agree.

Why do you have tulips in a herb garden?

It's one of the joys of gardening HildaW, that things rarely turn out as we'd expected, or hoped.