U

G o O n l i n e

T h e

B e tte r H o m e s a n d G a r d e n s

on lin e plan t

e n cy clo p e d ia lists m ore th a n 100 tu lip

v a rie tie s. T o see th em , go to BH G .com /tulips.

re tu rn stro n g e r e v e ry sp rin g, m an y tu lip s b lo o m fo r ju s t a y e a r o r tw o .

“ W h e n y o u first p la n t, y o u g e t a fa b u lo u s d isp lay,” F lip says, “ b u t you

c a n ’t be su re th e y w ill co m e b a ck .” So p la n n in g and p la n tin g h er bu lb

d esig n s are an n u al rites.

T h e y e a rly re fre sh g iv e s F lip a ch a n ce to tr y n ew co m b in a tio n s. “A s

I g e t older, m y ta ste s h ave ch a n g e d ,” sh e says. “ I u sed to lo v e p in k s, b u t

n o w I’m g o in g m ore to w a rd o ra n g e .” R eds a re n ’t a llo w e d . “ F or m e, th e y

seem h a rsh .” H er g o a l is to g e n tly h a rm o n iz e — fo r ex a m p le, m a k in g

su re th e co lo rs o f th e tu lip s co o rd in a te n o t o n ly w ith each o th e r

b u t also w ith h er b a ck y a rd ce n te rp ie ce , a m a g n ifice n t p u rp le 'A g io ’

rh o d o d en d ro n . L o n g w in te r e v e n in g s are sp en t ch o o sin g tu lip s fro m

ca ta lo g s, w ith an e y e fo r p le a sin g co lo r co m b in a tio n s.

C o m e sp rin g , all th e w o rk is w o rth it. F lip p u sh es o p en th e g ard en

g a te , w a tch e s h er b o u n te o u s b u lb s b rin g tra ffic to a cra w l, and sm iles.

“ O u t fro n t, p eo p le slo w d o w n to lo o k ,” sh e says. “ T h e y sto p and ta lk

an d I g e t to see m y n e ig h b o rs.” ■

Suffused with color in

the morning sun,

‘Blushing Beauty’

tulips,

, are an

instant eyecatcher.

F o r b u y in g in fo rm a tio n see page

2 0 2

.