Inspiration From the Holland (MI) Tulip Festival

There's a reason for my bulb-buying bonanza this fall. I'm not going to blame it all on this, but it certainly was a huge influence. Earlier this year on the first weekend of May, Mom and I traveled to Holland, Michigan, for the Tulip Festival.  She's been there before, but it was my first time and something I'd wanted to do for a long time.

We picked a good year to go. According to a high school friend who lives in Holland, some years the festival is a "stemfest." Most of the tulips are past bloom and visitors to the festival don't get the full experience of seeing what Mom and I saw when we were there.

Lake Michigan near Saugatuck

Holland is a remarkable and unique city on the west side of lower Michigan, on the shores of Lake Michigan. It's a clean and beautiful place, most especially when it's Tulip Time. We spent three days there, including an afternoon in nearby Saugatuck. I'll let these photos speak of our experiences.

Just outside the greenhouse at Windmill Island

Inside the greenhouse at Windmill Island

Kids doing Dutch dancing in Centennial Park

Windmill Island

Parrot tulips

You don't see signs like this on a hotel door just anywhere!

Mom takes note of those tulips she might want to order.

Rhododendrons and tulips go beautifully together.

Countless streets are all dressed up for Tulip Time.

Peony tulip 'Angelique'

Lily-flowering tulips

A tulip field at Windmill Island

Lily-flowering tulips

Downtown Holland

More lily-flowering tulips

Holland, MI is home to the largest working windmill outside The Netherlands.

Unveiled in 2009, 'America's Holland' tulip was developed in the North
Holland province of The Netherlands over the previous five years to honor
the 80th anniversary of the Holland (MI) tulip festival.

This house was fairy-tale like. We LOVED it!

Fritillaria 'Crown Imperial'

The sun sets over Kollen Park on the final night of the Tulip Time Festival.

And now you might be able to understand why I bought so many tulips to plant this fall.


EDIT: Robin, of Life in Robin's Nest (Central Ohio), visited Holland, MI, this fall and posted photos of her visit. I found it interesting to see the places we visited in a different season. Check it out!

This Year, I Did It For Real

Narcissus 'Pink Charm'

Every spring I tell myself, "Self, I'm going to plant more bulbs this fall." I say this because when spring gets here, I'm so darn glad to see those colorful flowers in bloom after a long, gray winter that I'm nearly delirious from the beauty of it. A little goes a long way when you're flower-starved, but I'm greedy. I want more.

Unknown tulip

And then fall comes.

The summer has been long. Long, because it's once again been so hot and so dry. I'm weary of carrying the hoses around, trying to save my precious plants from an early death due to dehydration. Even some of the so-called drought-tolerant plants look like they're just not going to make it if I don't help them out a little.

So, I'm ready for a break from gardening. Or at least that aspect of it and it plays a big factor in why, when fall comes, the thought of having to plant more bulbs - having to dig holes in rock-hard clay soil - just isn't all that appealing.

Hyacinthus orientalis 'Festival Blue'

But this fall, I did a little more self-talk and this time I said, "Self, you always say you're going to plant more bulbs in the fall. Then you don't do it. Come on and get it done this time." Okay, I do plant bulbs every fall, but not that many. This year, Self prevailed. But now Self is saying, "Whoa...what were you thinking???" Buy one, get one free makes me a little crazy.

Narcissus top to bottom: 'Thalia', 'Pipit', and 'Lemon Beauty'

I'm about halfway done planting a grand total of 792 new spring bulbs. The thought of a glorious burst of color in the spring is what is keeping me at it until they're all safely tucked into the ground. Even with an acre of land here, I'm running out of places to put them.

I remember reading this in a magazine several years ago - "You can always find a little spot between plants to tuck in a few bulbs" - or something like that. It's the horticultural equivalent of "There's always room for Jell-O." I'm not sure though, because so far I've dug up three clusters of bulbs that I forgot were already planted there.

Fritillaria persica

But the bulbs have arrived, and I'll have spring to look forward to more than ever, because of these:

Arum italicum 'Marmoratum'
Crocus chrysanthus 'Prins Claus'
Crocus chrysanthus 'Advance'
Crocus sativus (Saffron Crocus)
Crocus sieberi 'Spring Beauty'
Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant'
Iris histriodes 'Katharine Hodgkin'
Iris hollandica 'Rosario'
Iris reticulata 'Cantab'
Lilium, Trumpet 'African Queen'
Narcissus, Mixed
Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' (Darwin)
Tulipa 'Daydream' (Darwin)
Tulipa fosteriana 'Princeps' (Fosteriana)
Tulipa 'Coors' (Greigii)
Tulipa 'Yonina' (Lily-flowered)
Tulipa 'Flaming Parrot' (Parrot)
Tulipa 'Little Beauty' (Species)
Tulipa 'Little Princess' (Species)
Tulipa batalinii 'Red Gem' (Species)
Tulipa clusiana ‘Cynthia’ (Species)
Tulipa clusiana ‘Lady Jane’ (Species)
Tulipa clusiana 'Tinka' (Species)
Tulipa humilis 'Alba Coerulea Oculata' (Species)
Tulipa pulchella var. violacea 'Persian Pearl' (Species)
Tulipa sylvestris (Species)
Tulipa 'Happy Generation' (Triumph)
Tulipa 'Ile de France' (Triumph)

That's a lot of tulips. There's a reason for that. Stay tuned...

Unknown Narcissus sp.

Photos from Spring 2010 at Our Little Acre

Vented vs. Ventless - What Do YOU Use?

As many of you know, a conservatory is being constructed here at Our Little Acre. It started out being called a greenhouse, but since technically a greenhouse is all glass or polycarbonate or some-other-clear-material, what we have going up here isn't a greenhouse. It's a conservatory, which is a room with a lot of windows that allows enough light in to allow plants to grow well.

Construction was begun while Mom and I were in Dallas for the Garden Writers' Association annual symposium at the beginning of September. It required that I move quite a few plants, which wasn't an advisable thing to do when we were in the middle of a drought and experiencing above normal temperatures, but you do what you have to do. At this point, it looks like all have survived except for a tree peony. :-(

In the matter of six weeks, we have gone from this...

...to this...

Which brings us to this point: Which kind of propane heater is the best to use for heating the conservatory? I want to keep it at 60° F or a little higher for the winter. We're in Zone 5b, so our average lowest temperature in winter is -10 to -15 degrees F. The building is 10' x 12' with an open ceiling height at the peak of approximately 10 feet. It will be insulated on all four walls and the ceiling with R-19 fiberglass insulation.

So...which is best? Vented or ventless? My issue with ventless is the automatic safety shut-off when the O₂ level reaches critically low levels. Good for humans. Bad for plants that you don't want to freeze. If I have to have a source of fresh O₂ so that the ventless heater doesn't shut off anyway, then wouldn't vented be the way to go? And what about blue flame vs. radiant? Any thoughts on that?

The propane tank was set in on Friday and now we just need a heater to attach to it.

What I'd love is for greenhouse owners, greenhouse sellers and anyone who has any experience with either or both of these type heaters to weigh in here so we can make a decision about this. I'm counting on the rest of the gardening world coming through for me with their sage advice! Have at it! I'm all ears!