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The Parrot King Tulip

April 9th, 2012

Today we’ll be taking a break from the cleaning series because I didn’t get home until late from the family Easter celebration and didn’t have time to take photos & write the post. Also because a few of my parrot tulips are blooming. These ‘Parrot King’ tulips are a show stopper and they’re stealing the show by my back door, the OOPS ones that I accidentally left in the garage. I can’t help but stop and stare whenever I’m head in or out!


I planted these in pots specifically to be able to examine them closely. The detail in these flowers is so amazing and hard to capture with my camera. They’re stunning from bud to bloom. The variety of colors in each bud, the fringe on the petals, the way the colors change and they get deeper as the blooms age.




Normally, I’m not one for blooms with flourish like these. I don’t even really like orange and yellow flowers, but for some reason I’m enthralled by these beauties. They remind me of Spanish Flamenco dancers with all the ruffles and their bright colors. Definitely focal points wherever you plant them. I’ll never have a garden without parrot tulips from now on and I don’t think I’ll go without forcing some in a pot to admire by the back door each spring.

Do you have a plant/flower that you love that doesn’t fit in with your normal gardening tastes?

For more photos of this beauty head on over to my Flickr photostream.

16 Comments to “The Parrot King Tulip”
  1. Maria on April 9, 2012 at 7:24 am

    Very pretty :) Tulips are just so lovely to have in the garden.
    m.

    Reply to Maria's comment

  2. daisy on April 9, 2012 at 7:55 am

    Those are spectacular!

    Reply to daisy's comment

  3. Gardening Maintenance Birmingham on April 9, 2012 at 10:22 am

    I adore parrot tulips. They are certainly one for the pots, and will have to be dug up every year here in the UK, they are not at all hardy.

    Reply to Gardening Maintenance Birmingham's comment

  4. Isabel @ Fennel and Fern on April 9, 2012 at 10:59 am

    Those photos are so stunning. Thank you for brightening up a cold, wet Monday afternoon!

    Reply to Isabel @ Fennel and Fern's comment

  5. Trish on April 9, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    I planted a couple of Asian lilies the year after we moved into our home. I had a spot that needed something in it, and they were marked down at the garden center since their blooms had dropped and they weren’t selling as quickly anymore. I didn’t think of myself as a lily person – I associate them with more formal gardens and think of them as fussy, while I tend to prefer cottage gardens and wildflowers. Well, the lilies don’t care what I think and they come up every year and are so striking and so beautiful and so exuberant that I love them despite thinking I wouldn’t.

    Now I check at our garden and home centers each year around the right time and pick up a few more to add to the collection once they’ve gone on sale. Extra fun is that since I usually get them after they’ve dropped their flowers, I’m never 100% certain which variety I’m getting, so it’s a bit of a surprise what color they’ll be the first time they bloom!

    Reply to Trish's comment

  6. tj on April 9, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    …I’d have to say that they are richly rewarding you for saving ’em from the dark garage – gorgeous! :o)

    …I haven’t come across a flower that I don’t like but I do have to say that I’ve noticed I’ve gotten too carried away with the color pink in landscaping these past few years around here. And I’m not even a pink kinda gal either in the garden, decor or fashion. Go figure.

    …Thank you for sharing your beautiful tulips!

    …Enjoy your day!

    …Blessings :o)

    Reply to tj's comment

  7. angela on April 9, 2012 at 5:10 pm

    Gorgeous photos!! Wonder what camera you used and lenses. The colors are so pretty! I never planted tulips but It’s one of those flowers that everyone loves it. The colors are so vivid and pretty. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply to angela's comment

  8. Lona on April 9, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    What a beauty! I love those mixtures of colors in the blooms.

    Reply to Lona's comment

  9. KimH on April 9, 2012 at 7:26 pm

    Gorgeous photos…

    I love Birds of Paradise and they definitely arent my normal style.. but I think they remind me of my homeland..

    Reply to KimH's comment

  10. Throwback Road on April 9, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    Amazing photos! Bravo!

    Reply to Throwback Road's comment

  11. Allison on April 9, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    Tulips are my favorite and i have never seen one like this! Gorgeous!

    Reply to Allison's comment

  12. Josh on April 10, 2012 at 12:14 am

    Hi there,

    I’m not an expert on flowers, I took a class on floral decoration though, so I just have an eye for beautiful flowers and Parrot King Tulip is one stunning flower. Nice pictures.

    Reply to Josh's comment

  13. MrBrownThumb on April 10, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    Love the pics, as always. But I especially love these tulips. I only have the gaudy-colored ones so it’s refreshing to see some more subdued colors.

    Reply to MrBrownThumb's comment

    • Susy on April 10, 2012 at 10:03 pm

      Thanks Mr Brown Thumb, I tend to go in the pink/purple directions so these are a huge departure from the norm at Chiot’s Run!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  14. Debbie Jamieson on April 20, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    Wow….these are incredibly stunning. Might have to get some when i finally place my order for bulbs. Beautiful.

    Reply to Debbie Jamieson's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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