sooby said:Do you know the cultivar name? I don't see an 'America's Favorite' listed.
joannakat said:Hi everyone,
Two seasons ago, I planted America's Favorite tulips. They're listed as blooming two years in a row so no need to dig them up if you want them to last (that is, until after the second year).
The first season, they bloomed a bright and beautiful red with faint streaks of yellow. Absolutely gorgeous. But this, the second season, I'm finding their color to be different, a more muted red with a far less vibrant yellow streak. It looks as if the colors were mixed with a bit of charcoal.
My questions are,
1. Is this common for second year blooms?
2. If not, is there something missing in the soil along the lines of vitamins, minerals or some type of nourishment that would influence the color? Or is there too much of something?
3. Does anyone know what I can expect if I dig them up this season to save them for planting again in the fall? Will they bloom their original bright red, or will the color continue to wane?
GRRR! Being a newbie is lasting a lot longer than I thought it would!
Thanks for any answers.
RpR said:
Unless you have solid colors, tulips can do odd things.
There is no guarantee , unless you have one in writing, that year two will resemble year one.
For what ever reason I had better fortune, better looking, longer last tulips down in my heavy black gumbo, than the one's planted in Sharon sandy-clay. ( But while her soil is in what is supposed to be potato land, my heavy soil down south makes better taters also.)
What type of soil do you have?
As I said , I spent a goodly number of bucks prepping a large tulip garden up North, fertilizer, bucks up soil , etc, and it was the most disappointing thing.
RpR said:Pretty much the bulbs are the problem or are reverting to what ever they once were.
Dig them up and see you have and what you get next year.
I learned that tulips are not worth too much worry as you have to dig them any way.
Black Gumbo is black soil that is heavy like clay but not as gummy as clay.