We had ninety degree heat and a heavy storm over the weekend, and that spelled the end of the few tulips I had left in my little patch. Before the storm struck, I picked some of the stalwarts and created this rather elegant arrangement:

Purple Elegance

This vase contains ‘Night Club‘ and ‘Black Hero‘ tulips, and some sprigs of weedy garlic mustard.

Tulipa ‘Night Club‘ is a multi-flowering tulip in shades of magenta and purple. In my garden it started blooming around May 14, and lasted about a week.

‘Night Club’ still tightly budded
The beginnings of color on ‘Night Club’
‘Night Club’s’ first blooms, more magenta in color than the bud suggested
‘Night Club’ ranged between 16 and 20 inches tall.
The base of ‘Night Club’s’ interior is blue and creamy white.
‘Night Club’ was a nice complement to the tall, yellow ‘Hocus Pocus’.

In addition to the heavily flowered bouquet-type stems, ‘Night Club’ sent up several single flowers as well, presumably from smaller bulblets attached to the mother bulb. They bloomed a few days later than the main stems, and they are what I used in my vase this week.

‘Night Club’ in the vase

I did use some main stalks of ‘Night Club’ in a vase I made up last week, again, right before a heavy storm was due to hit. (There may be a relationship between my flower picking and the weather forecast, lol!)

‘Night Club’ in a bouquet with ‘Hocus Pocus’, ‘Black Hero’, and ‘Bourbon Street’

Tulipa ‘Black Hero‘ is very tall, reaching heights of nearly two feet. A peony-flowering, double late tulip, its color is such a deep burgundy-purple that it does indeed look black in certain light. It was the very last of my tulips to bloom this year, not fully open until May 18.

Tulip ‘Black Hero’ in bud
‘Black Hero’ in front of ‘Hocus Pocus’
Frilly layers of peony-flowering Tulipa ‘Black Hero’

Again, there were several shorter ‘Black Hero‘ flowers, with fewer layers than the main stalks.

A smaller ‘Black Hero’, probably from a bulblet

With two rather dark tulips in the vase, this bouquet needed something to lighten it up. I considered using some of my late blooming Narcissi ‘Garden Opera’, but they were covered with spatters of mud.

Mud-speckled ‘Garden Opera’ wouldn’t have added much beauty to my bouquet, I think!

So, I looked to the weeds growing just outside the garden fence and chose a few sprigs of garlic mustard. They add just the right touch of airiness to the arrangement.

Delicate white garlic mustard flowers added just the right touch to finish this bouquet!

After I cut a few sprigs of the mustard for the bouquet, I pulled the rest out and threw it in the trash! I do not need a yard and garden full of this very invasive, nutrient-sapping species!

Even though it’s a day late (and perhaps a dollar short?), I’m linking this post to Cathy’s weekly meme at Rambling in the Garden, where you will find her lovely vase of the week and links to many more. I can’t think of a better idea for starting a new week than with a vase of fresh flowers in the house!

My tulip bed at its prime in mid-May