Favorite Red Flowered Bulbs--TOW
Rodger Whitlock (Thu, 17 Jun 2004 11:18:37 PDT)

On 13 Jun 04 at 10:29, Mary Sue Ittner wrote:

Only two:

Crocosmia 'Lucifer'
Tulipa sprengeri

Lucifer has to be one of the all-time best bulbs for general garden
use. I can pride myself on being one of the first to have it in
North America, having received it directly from Bressingham the year
of its introduction, around 1980. What a splendid plant!

Just don't let it seed or you'll get stray seedlings coming up.

My tabby cat Harry used to like Lucifer when he was faster and more
into catching birds: he'd lie on his back underneath the arching
flower stems with his mouth gaping and when a hummingbird arrived for
a feed, pow! In saying this, I exaggerate, but only a little.

As for Tulipa sprengeri, it is gradually colonizing my entire garden
and becoming a weed, but I don't care. I like it. It's easy from
seed; don't waste your money on expensive bulbs.

There is a "Trotter's Form" but just how it differs from the more
usual strain I do not know.

The color of Tulipa sprengeri makes me think that a yellow form is
possible, but I've never heard of such a thing.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
"To co-work is human,
to cow-ork, bovine."