I celebrated the beginning of the glorious, merry month of May by taking a walk around all of my gardens and taking many, many, many pictures. My intent was to bring you a comprehensive tour. That was a week ago. It proved a daunting task!
So, adopting the principle of KISS (Keep it simple, stupid!), I instead bring you details of just three new things in my gardens this year.

This is Tulip ‘Flaming Purissima’. It’s an Emperor (aka Fosteriana) tulip, blooming relatively early in the tulip season. It stands about 17 inches high, including its four inch ovoid flower. The delicate raspberry-pink striations deepen in color as it ages. There is a fair variety of shading within the species, as you can see in the next three pictures.



‘Flaming Purissima’ features a warm, sunny yellow center. How lovely is this?

The cold front that has affected much of the United States this week moved into my area overnight, and the tulips are closed up tightly against the cold today. Doesn’t this poor thing look like it’s shivering?

Blooming along with ‘Flaming Purissima’ is this bowl of sunshine called Tulip ‘Monte Carlo’.

‘Monte Carlo’ is a double early tulip that stands ten to twelve inches high, with bowl shaped flowers that are two and a half to three inches in height and up to four inches wide. It’s a bright, stand-out yellow with green veins.

Some of the petals have a small degree of red feathering, and some of the bulbs sent up two flower stalks.

‘Monte Carlo’ is supposed to have a sweet fragrance, so I stuck my nose down into it and inhaled. There is a very subtle, mild sweet scent, yes, but nothing noteworthy. Perhaps it will be more noticeable on a warmer day–I’ll try to remember to check!
According to the Scheepers website, ‘Monte Carlo’ has been retired and replaced with a similar tulip called ‘Marie Jo’. I did a quick Google search and found nothing else saying this, so if you really want this lovely daffodil, perhaps you can still get it. Here’s one last look:

Finally, here’s the daffodil promised in the title. This is Narcissus ‘Cosmopolitan’, a mid-season bloomer of the Jonquil family.

‘Cosmopolitan’ stands nine to twelve inches tall and bears between three and five flowers two to two and a half inches in width per stem. Two shades of yellow when it opens, it quickly transforms to feature a white perianth and a pale peach cup with a pink rim.


I’ve planted several ‘Cosmopolitans’, along with a variety called ‘Kokopelli’, at the edge of the woodchuck rocks in our back yard. (Narcissi are among the few things woodchucks won’t eat!) I’ll write about ‘Kokopelli’ later this spring. Future years will tell how well they naturalize and come back each year. I’ll try to post an update about that next spring.

In future posts, I’ll write about some of the other tulips blooming in my little patch, as well as a couple more narcissi. Thanks for visiting!
Simply beautiful. We don’t have the best luck with tulips where I live in upstate New York – daffodils do a lot better. The Flaming Purissima does look like it is shivering!
Hi Alana! Since I need to plant my tulips inside the fenced in vegetable garden, I treat them like annuals and plant new ones every year. That’s probably why I have such good luck and a nice display of different tulips every year. It is an expense, to be sure, but I’ve deemed it a worthwhile indulgence for myself! It has been a great year for the daffodils, for sure! (Though this morning, many of them are lying on the snowy ground–I think they’ll bounce back, though.) Thanks for visiting!
Hi Kimberley! Good to hear from you and your garden. 😃 Flaming Purissima is at the top of my list for next year after I saw it on another blog and your lovely photos have made me 100% sure it is the one I want for my new flower bed. So thank you for sharing! Look forward to seeing more of your garden soon.
She’s a beauty for sure! I’m sorry I can’t speak to its ability to naturalize. I treat my tulips like annuals here since I have to plant them within the fenced in vegetable patch. I’m hoping to get back into the blogging routine this year! I miss all my virtual gardening friends!
Wonderful plants – and their portraits. The ‘Flaming Purissima’ is definitely going on my list!
Thanks for visiting, Cathy! It is a gorgeous tulip!
Nice! ‘Flaming Purissima’ is a beauty!
Kimberley, What a beautiful tulip! I’ll have to keep my eye out for ‘Flaming Purissima’ this fall after you’ve shown how lovely it is. Hope you are well these spring days. Best, -Beth
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