The tulip season is now starting up here in the north. The warm weather has made the early varieties to open up their blooms.
Helmar (Tulipa ‘Helmar’) is one of the early bloomers I bought few years ago and it is still doing well.
I almost wish cooler days so that the blooming season would last longer, almost. But I guess in the end it I will manage to enjoy this warm and sunny weather we are having.
Finally managed to spend a weekend in the summer cottage. We have already had the first frosts during the nights and it is time to prepare for the winter.
Not many flowers left but the Autumn Joy (Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’) is still blooming.
It is one of those plants that do not require any care and is at its best in the autumn.
Prunotto (Lilium ‘Prunotto’) is the variety that has done best up here in the north for the past few years.
It is blooming beautifully and just love the bright red color it has.
The Scarlet Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) has given me headaches during the past few years. Luckily I do not yet have it in the summer cottage but it has managed to destroy half of the lilies in my mom’s garden
A beautiful beetle but so hard to get rid of and very harmful for the lilies.
I am getting more and more fond of Common Garden Verbenas (Verbena hortensis). They have so many colors available in the stores nowadays.
The flower is extremely drought tolerant and therefore very suitable for the summer cottage since I am not always there to water.
I planted this individual to the driest and sunniest spot and it still made it blooming beautifully.
Another good year for the Origami Red and White (Aquilegia caerulea ‘Origami Red and White’).
For some reason the variety seems to like to grow up here in the north.
This year the blooming season for the columbines will be short. After a long period of cool weather a two week heatwave hit us and made the flowers to bloom quickly.
The aquilegia season is here. Most of the varieties are at their best and blooming beautifully.
It took me several years to grow the Bordeaux Barlow (Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata ‘Bordeaux Barlow’) from the seeds but now I have many of them.
Up here in the north it usually takes three years before this variety starts to bloom. Most of the other varieties already bloom during the second season.
Last autumn I ordered tulips from the Netherlands. Helmar (Tulipa ‘Helmar’) was one of those varieties.
Helmar is a very distinctive Triumph tulip with wine red flames on a yellow base resembling the historic tulips painted during the golden age and that is why the group is also known as the Rembrandt tulips.
The bulbs overwintered well and are now starting their show. Was able to spend the weekend in the summer cottage to see the start but unfortunately will miss the end of the show this year.
It is always a bit tricky to grow Dahlias (Dahlia) up here in the north. They would need a longer summer to bloom well.
This year I decided to buy ready grown plants instead of trying to grow them by myself. At least this way I am able to be sure that I can see the blooms.
Found two that I liked from the store and brought them to the summer cottage. They are very different from each other but were the ones that caught my eye.
I had completely forgotten that I planted Origami Red and White (Aquilegia caerulea ‘Origami Red and White’) seeds last year.
The blooms were a nice surprise and lasted long.
Now the flowering season for columbines is over but it is time to collect the seeds. This surely was a variety that I want to see more in my garden.
This year I planted my Red Flaxes (Linum grandiflorum) to a too dry place and it caused the flowers to grow unevenly.
Well, I still love the color of Red Flax. The stark contrast between the red blooms and green foliage somehow lures me.
Need to try to find a better spot for them next year or make a mixed flowerbed.
Gardening in the North 