Tulip Mania

The jury is in on the Monet tulips: love 'em.

And do you see what's blooming in the upper left corner?

The Angelique tulips! They look like peonies. And here's what the whole bed looks like now:

All that's left to bloom are the Greenland tulips which are late-season. Most of the iris and the lilies survived and are coming along fine. Yes, I know that the bed is very weedy, but it sits on a slope so I am leaving the weeds as long as possible to hold the soil in place. We've had a lot of rain!

The mystery tulips not only have multiple blossoms, they also come in assorted colors:

Less than satisfying are the Peppermint Stick Tulips.

The colors are very washed out. You barely notice them in the garden. Thankfully, the Pencrebar Daffodils are cute as a button:

I was trying to create a "miniatures" garden. I planted the Peppermint Stick tulips, the Pencrebar daffodils and dwarf iris. The squirrels got all of the iris bulbs and the tulips were a a disappointment. Maybe I'll just stick to miniature daffodils in this bed.

Right across the little paved walk is my lilac bush with lily of the valley and violets underneath.

And this is the reason that I keep planting hellebores even though they don't bloom well for me:

They make a really nice groundcover!