' v»- . I

|\V

#_'

h e d ay sh e fin a lly ca n p u sh o p en th e g a te to h er g ard en , h eld fast

fo r m o n th s b y sn ow , F lip M e y e r k n o w s sp rin g is h ere. “Ju st b e in g

able to g e t in fe els lik e a triu m p h ,” sh e says. S o o n , b u lb s w ill b u rst

in to b lo o m , c re a tin g su ch a sp e cta cle in h er M ain e g a rd e n th a t

d riv e rs slo w d o w n on th e b u s y road o u t fro n t to ad m ire th e show .

It’s a cre a tio n 13 y e a rs in th e m a k in g fo r F lip, w h o d o w n size d

fro m te n d in g a 9 -a cre g a rd e n in C o n n e c tic u t to th is th ird -a c re o ff th e

c o a st o f M ain e. T h e sn u g fa rm h o u se ca m e w ra p p e d w ith o n ly m eager,

ra g g e d p e ren n ia l b o rd ers. B ut w ith th e help o f P o rtla n d lan d scap e

d e sig n e r Jam es M c C a in , F lip to re th o se o u t, fillin g th e fro n t an d b ack

y a rd s w ith lu sh n ew p e re n n ia ls an d sh ru b s, p lu s h u n d red s o f b u lb s—

m o s tly tu lip s, h e r fa v o rite . A rra n g in g h er b e lo v e d b u lb s in d en se

b o rd ers a lo n g sid e su m m e r p e re n n ia ls w a s a ca lcu la te d m ove. “ It’s th e

sm a rte st th in g to d o ,” F lip says. “ B u lb s are fa b u lo u s, b u t a fte rw a rd ,

y o u h ave a lo t o f cru m m y -lo o k in g fo liag e. A s p e re n n ia ls fill o u t, th e y ’ll

h id e th a t.”

F lip also ca lls o n re p la n tin g to e n su re a sp e c ta c u la r sp rin g show .

T h a t’s b e ca u se , u n lik e b u lb s th a t n a tu ra lize , o r se lf-p ro p a g a te , and

Screening the yard

from a busy street, a

‘Candym int’ crabapple

rises behind a picket

fence and perennial

border rich w ith bulbs,

including ‘Apricot

Im pression’ and ‘Best

Purple’ tulips.