The showstopper flower in last year's Spring garden is wowing us again this year. I took the plunge in the Fall of 2007 and planted tulips for the first time in years. The all performed well, but the one that captured our hearts was “Schoonoord.” In 1935 Louise Beebee Wilder said it was “an old variety but invaluable.” It’s a flower that I've decided I never want to be without now that I’ve grown it.
The green and yellow striped buds open into lushly double white flowers touched with gold. Anyone who's seen them in a vase thought they were peonies. Since they first began to open, Schoonoord's drawn Mark and I out into the garden day after day in every light and weather to enjoy its changing beauty. Luckily I ordered enough bulbs that I felt free to cut as many as I wanted to bring indoors.
It came back this Spring surprisingly strong. And again, is so fetching that I think I must order more bulbs. Luckily they are currently listed on the fabulous Old House Gardens site. Now the big question is 10 more or 25? You know which way I'm leaning don't you?
Mark took photos of Schoonoord like she was our firstborn! And I kept sending him back to get just one more ...
Scott Kunst of Old House Gardens is such a sweet guy; he put a link to my column about Old House bulbs on his Web site. You can see what I said about some of their other bulbs here.
I purchased some of these 'Schoonord' tulips from OHG last fall, and potted them up. They are just now getting started. After seeing this post, I am certainly inclined to order some more with my next bulb order. Beautiful photographs!
Posted by: Liisa | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 06:49 PM
Hope yours bloom as well in pots. I will be interested to hear (see?) the results as I was contemplating doing them in pots next year.
Posted by: LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 08:20 PM