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It’s hard to get anything done around here in May because I am constantly distracted by all of the daffodils and tulips in bloom! It’s been especially true this week, when we’ve had several consecutive brilliantly sunny days! It seems like every couple of hours, something has changed; perhaps a tulip has fully opened or there’s a special glow to a narcissus, and I “need” to get out there with my camera to record the beauty.

Here then, are some of the things that have kept us knee deep in undone laundry and sticky floors this week:

Tulip ‘Yellow Pomponette’

‘Yellow Pomponette’ is a bright yellow peony-flowering tulip with rows upon rows of ruffled petals. Some petals are rimmed with a narrow red picotee edge. Mine range from fourteen to eighteen inches in height, and when fully opened, the flowers are five inches across. They bloomed in mid-season for me.

‘Yellow Pomponette’ in bud
The anthers between the layers of petals of ‘Yellow Pomponette’ can look like splotches of dirt.

You know you want to see one more shot of this belle of the ball!

Unadulterated flamboyance! (Tulip ‘Yellow Pomponette’)
‘Yellow Pomponette’ in the garden with ‘Passionale’ (purple), ‘Bourbon Street’ (shorter orange) and ‘American Dream’ (taller red-orange)

This is Tulip ‘American Dream’, a Giant Darwin Hybrid that bloomed early in my garden. Its coloration ranges from red to orange to yellow to cream, depending on its maturity and the amount of sunlight streaming through it!

Tulip ‘American Dream’, showing hints of the show to come
‘American Dream’ is positively radiant in the sunlight!

Who wouldn’t be tempted out into the tulip patch with scenes like these? ‘American Dream’ has grown to about eighteen inches high and its flowers are three to four inches tall. When fully open on a bright day, the bowl shaped bloom is about five inches wide.

‘American Dream’ features a black and brilliant yellow base inside its bowl shaped flowers. I love the color gradation here–oh my!
Two mature ‘American Dream’ tulips with ‘Yellow Pomponette’, ‘Orange Emperor’ and ‘Passionale’ (purple) in the background

I know I already wrote about the Emperor tulips, but please humor me and gasp at the beauty of ‘Orange Emperor’ as it matures to a mellow apricot shade!

A mature ‘Orange Emperor’

Are you overwhelmed yet by all of this sumptuousness? Here’s a palate cleanser, a flat-lay shot I took recently for a weekly photo challenge I participate in. I call it “Not So Dandy, Lion”.

Ready for more beauty? I am! Here’s Tulip ‘Passionale’, a mid-season Triumph tulip that blooms in shades purple and lilac. I forced a few of these to bloom indoors in February.

Tulip ‘Passionale’
‘Passionale’ stands between fourteen and sixteen inches tall, with three inch flowers.
‘Passionale’ and ‘Bourbon Street’ (shorter orange) in front of ‘American Dream’, ‘Hocus Pocus’ (tall yellow), and ‘Black Hero’ (still in bud)

The tulips are not my sole distraction! The sweet scent of Narcissus ‘Sir Winston Churchill’ attracts not only me, but a pollinators too!

Narcissus ‘Sir Winston Churchill’ and a visitor

Narcissus ‘Pueblo’ is blooming on the upper end of the Terrace Garden. You can click on the link to learn more about this one.

‘Pueblo’ is very briefly pale yellow when it opens, but quickly transitions to pure white.

At the lower end, Narcissus jonquilla ‘Beautiful Eyes’ is blooming prolifically! There are a couple of very thick clumps, and I think I should dig and separate the bulbs when they finish. On the other hand, there is no shortage of blossoms here, so maybe I don’t need to?

I named Narcissus ‘Beautiful Eyes’ my favorite flower of the day on Facebook yesterday! It has a sweet, fruity scent, somewhat reminiscent of melons.
This clump of ‘Beautiful Eyes’ is at least eight years old and still going strong!

Split-cup Narcissus ‘Sorbet’ is another powerhouse that has naturalized beautifully in my garden. Again, I may need to dig and separate, or do I leave well-enough alone?

The yellow, orange, and white corona of Narcissus ‘Sorbet’ has always reminded me, in a pleasant way, of scrambled eggs!
Narcissus ‘Sorbet’, with an interloper that may be ‘Kedron’. I don’t remember planting ‘Kedron’ here . . .

Narcissus ‘Stratosphere’ is indeed tall, and bright yellow. No missing these guys! I originally planted them here in hopes that the blue camassias behind them would bloom at the same time, but that has never transpired.

Narcissus ‘Stratosphere’ grows eighteen to twenty inches tall.
Narcissus ‘Stratosphere’ is a jonquil and sports two or three two inch wide blossoms on each stalk.

I’m a little disappointed that ‘Yellow Cheerfulness’ has not naturalized as well as some others. Or maybe I’ve just been careless when I’ve dug in this bed to weed or plant annuals.

I love the delicate shade of Narcissus ‘Yellow Cheerfulness’

Here’s a view of the lower half of my Terrace Garden, which I call Dogwood Corner:

Dogwood Corner, with large clumps of Narcissus ‘Sorbet’, ‘Stratosphere’, ‘Yellow Cheerfullness’, muscari, and a very proud dandelion!

Well, phew; congratulations if you’ve made it this far, and thank you for indulging me as I’ve waxed ecstatic about the beauty in my gardens! What loveliness has allured you away from more mundane tasks this week?

Narcissus ‘Beautiful Eyes’