Spring Flowers New and Old

Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, with festivities occurring all over, particularly as we inch closer to Canada Day on July 1st.

In honour of the occasion, a special tulip was developed: the Canada 150 Tulip, sometimes, but not often, known as the Maple Leaf tulip. It is red and white, the colour of the flag, and when it works just right, you can see a resemblance to the maple leaf.

Online, I found an image in which you can see the maple leaf motif fairly well (above), but in practice, things don't always work out perfectly.

I planted about two dozen bulbs last fall, and about half of that number have actually come up, and some haven't bloomed yet. I scattered them around, so I couldn't get a picture of a good drift of them, so I ended up focusing on this one in various shots. The maple leaf motif is visible on the left side; perhaps we will see more as the flower continues to unfold.

In the first two photos above, there is a flower in the right background that looks gnarled and misshapen, but it at least came up, and perhaps it will do better next year.

Many people have reported problems of the flowers coming up pink or faded, but some of mine are doing alright. The following one looks a little creamy, but it may turn whiter as it develops more. It has also not been the best spring for flowers, so we'll see what happens in future years.

Meanwhile, my dad's forget-me-nots are back. Due to changes in the garden they aren't as plentiful as in past years, but it is good to see some return.

I have posted of them more than once in the past, but the brief story is that my dad planted forget-me-nots in our property about 35 years ago, and they kept reseeding themselves every year. When we moved way across province 12 years ago, we brought some seeds with us, and they keep coming back and help us not to forget dad.

Today, I think I'll go around town and look for more of the Canada 150 tulips, and maybe I'll take a few more of the forget-me-nots too.