Mickey Rathbun: Tulips set the heart afire

Published: 05-05-2017 6:06 PM

When spring arrived this year, I realized I was completely estranged from my garden.

Last year was a tough time for gardeners. Toward the end of summer, the drought had taken the life out of my perennial beds and threatened a host of new shrubs I’d planted in May. The only plants that thrived were weeds, but the whole scene was so dismal I couldn’t muster the energy to root them out. For the first November in many years, I didn’t have the heart to “put the garden to bed.” As winter descended, I had the uneasy feeling that I might never reconnect emotionally with my garden again.

Late snow buried the spring’s snowdrops and some early daffodils; my heart sank. But when the snow melted, I was delighted to see that these hardy friends had remained unharmed in their icy blanket. My heart sang. The old romance was stirring once again.

Over the past couple of weeks, a border of tulips I’d planted two years ago in the back yard began to emerge through the layer of dead leaves I’d neglected to rake out in the fall. Planting bulbs is not one of my favorite activities. My soil is rocky and the job seems to take forever. My back starts complaining when I’m not halfway done, but I keep going. When I’m finally finished, there’s nothing to show for all my work but a stretch of bare dirt.

As the days warmed, the tulips’ slender green buds took on shades of apricot and pale pink. One morning, in the space of several hours, the flowers turned into a riot of lustrous peach and cardinal red. The band of tulips reminded me once again that gardening requires an enormous leap of faith.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Smith students occupy admin building, demand divestment from weapons manufacturers
A ‘hub’ blueprint begins: City kicks off planning for new Resilience Hub downtown
Ex-super, medical director of Soldiers’ Home change pleas, upsetting some families of 76 who died during pandemic
Area property deed transfers, March 28
Valley Art Supplies finds right mix by adding bar to longtime Easthampton business
Three candidates in running for Amherst superintendent

Tulip bulbs are particularly chancy. Squirrels like to dig up the bulbs. Fortunately, my dog Allie has the run of the backyard and she is a die-hard rodent killer. Even if your bulbs don’t turn into squirrel fodder, you’re not likely to see vigorous blooming for more than a few years. Unlike narcissus, tulips are not long-lived. But they are so spectacular I can’t resist them.

This time of year, I am reminded that in the early 17th century, Holland was consumed by tulip mania. Tulips were an imported luxury from Turkey and became a commodity for speculators, a more elegant version of, say, sorghum futures.

According to the historian Simon Schama, whose book The Embarrassment of Riches contains a fascinating history of the Dutch tulip craze, the flowers were classified according to their flamboyance and their unusual and subtle color combinations. Plain reds and yellows were at the low end, price wise, and popular among the common folk. The most expensive and cherished blooms were the flamed and irregularly striped varieties. Perhaps the most exquisite was the ‘Semper Augustus,’ red flames on white.

Tulips were prized by the newly rich, emblems of their wealth and social status. The plants were admired as the height of elegance or scorned as “reckless extravagance.” Although the tulip craze went bust as a financial market in 1736-37, Holland remains the world’s headquarters for tulip breeding.

As I gaze fondly at my modest tulip border, commoners for sure, I like to think about 17th-century Dutch connoisseurs marveling over their rare beauties. The tulip continues to set hearts afire and encourages gardeners everywhere to take a leap of faith and fall in love with their gardens again come spring.

Daffodils and primroses
at Tower Hill

There will be two flower shows at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston Saturday and Sunday.

The annual Seven States Daffodil Show features hundreds of cut daffodils gathered from gardens in New England and New York state. A floral design competition will showcase the creative talents of the exhibitors.

The display extends into the outdoor gardens at Tower Hill, which boast tens of thousands of Narcissus in sweeping plantings throughout the formal gardens, and a signature field of more than 25,000 daffodils. The show will be open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Primrose Show, presented by the New England Chapter of the American Primrose Society, will feature a variety of primrose species. There are more than 450 species of Primula in the wild, ranging in height from a few millimeters to over a meter tall, and their flowers can be red, blue-purple, yellow, white, and all shades in between. The show will be open Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will include a talk and book signing of “The Plant Lover’s Guide to Primulas” with Lynne Lawson and Jodie Mitchell on Saturday at 10 a.m.

The price for both shows is free with admission.

Pelham Library plant sale

The Friends of the Pelham Library plant sale will be held on May 13 at the Pelham Library on Amherst Road from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Perennials, groundcovers, shrubs and trees will be offered, as well as raffle items and baked goods. Coffee will be provided. Special plants from the Kindahl garden will be featured.

Wisteriahurst plant sale

The annual Wistariahurst plant sale also takes place May 13 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St. in Holyoke. Stock up for the season on all your favorite perennials and annuals, while supporting the ongoing care and maintenance of this historic house and its gardens and grounds.

Hitchcock Center Gala

Enjoy the Pioneer Valley’s finest food and drink at the second annual Battle of the Botanicals June 8 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Powerhouse at Amherst College.

Area chefs and mixologists will serve appetizers and cocktails featuring local botanicals at eight stations. Those participating may then vote for their favorites to determine which three teams will go head-to-head in a mix-off mystery box challenge hosted by The River’s Joan Holliday.

There will be music in the mezzanine lounge by DJ Just Joan and a silent auction offering dozens of local activities, artwork and more.

The restaurants involved are 30Boltwood, Bistro 63 @ The Monkey Bar and Johnny’s Tavern from Amherst; Hope & Olive with Magpie Pizzeria from Greenfield; The Alvah Stone from Montague; Five Eyed Fox from Turner’s Falls and The Green Room and sevenstrong from Northampton.

All appetizers and cocktails are included in the sliding scale ticket price which starts at $55. Proceeds benefit of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment.Tickets are a vailable at hitchcockcenter.org/botanicals.

Mickey Rathbun can be reached at foxglover8@gmail.com.

]]>