Mickey Mouse Tulips
The first fall after we purchased our new house (way back in 2003), I planted tulip bulbs. I found the bulbs on clearance at my local Target store, they were called ‘Mickey Mouse’ tulips. I planted the few bulbs from the package and was excited when they came up the following spring. Little did I know that these few bulbs would naturalize and reproduce. Each year I had a few more flowers, which is unusual for tulips. I passed a few bulbs along to my mom and they started reproducing in her garden as well. When we moved to Maine, it happened in the fall and I forgot to dig up bulbs to bring with me.
Last spring, I finally remember to dig a few up at my mom’s during a late spring visit. You can imagine how happy I was to see their little sunny red and yellow faces in the my garden this spring. There are two bulbs so far, but it looks as if the two bulbs I brought have already started to multiply. It’s wonderful to have these little lovelies in my garden once again.
Do you have any plans that you have acquired, then lost, then reacquired?
So fun to see those tulips. Love them but live where it is a bit too hot to keep them going.
For me it is a balloon flower. I have always loved the intense blue of balloon flower in bloom. Not the newer fussy dwarves, but the full sized plant.
What few know is that there is a variety of balloon flower where the hot air ballons never open up. So they stay this cool hot air ballon shape until they give up and go brown. The variety name is Komachi I think.
When we moved from Oklahoma it was the dead of winter and no new house when we were to arrive in Tennessee. Plus balloon flowers do not transplant at all well, rarely if ever. So I didn’t even try, I figured I would easily be able to buy a replacement once we got our house bought and a new garden established.
But alas, no one has had this plant in 10 years. I could not even remember the variety name and couldn’t find it thru Google.
But I thought to ask in a plant group I belong to on FB and someone came up with the name and I found seeds thru Gurney’s.
This last fall I started some thru winter sowing. I got 4 cells to come up and still have 4 nice little small plants going.
Trouble is, I also bought the taller double pink that does open up and half my seeds were that. And of course I did not mark the cells and promptly forgot which cells had which seeds.
So it will be at least another year before planting out and maybe another year after that before I can see if I have all blue, all pink or a bit of both.
to Ann's comment
Susy, I remember the most beautiful Hollyhocks at my grandma’s house when growing up. I’ve tried and tried to get some started but they just don’t seem to grow well for me. Last Fall a friend gave me some of her harvested seeds to try and get a patch started. I don’t think grandma planted them every year but they just reseeded themselves. Even though grandma’s house is still there, that was 60 years ago and the Hollyhocks are long gone so she must have had a hand in keeping them reseeding themselves somehow.
Have a great Mickey Mouse Tulip day.
to Nebraska Dave's comment