Tulips are my favorite spring flowers. I can't even imagine real spring without red and yellow tulips.
But lately, they've been freezing to death at our dachas every winter. Even the old, time-tested varieties have almost disappeared; none of our neighbors have any tulips left. Winters have become strange—they have little snow, they're warm, and if severe frosts do occur, they last only two or three days. The snow melts early in late February or early March. But at night, frosts can still be quite severe, and that's probably why the plants are freezing to death.
In the fall, I decided to create a small spring corner of tulips and planted bulbs in the foreground of one of the flower beds.
I had three varieties of tulips that survived the winter successfully and bloomed beautifully in the spring.
I also collected all the remains of my tulips from different corners of the garden and bought new ones - red and yellow.
I did everything by the book. In the spring, I eagerly awaited the first shoots; usually, they emerge from the soil in a single movement at the end of April, and by the end of May, they're already in full bloom. But not this time.
I spent a long time carefully examining the soil, watering the spot where the tulips were supposed to appear. And finally, here and there, shoots began to emerge, leaves began to bloom, but they were exhausted, somehow bent and tattered.
They tried to bloom, but the flowers were small and lacked vitality.
I rummaged around where there were no seedlings and found rotten bulbs.
So, I was unable to create a flowering corner of tulips.
I had to camouflage this void. I placed pots of carnations in the empty spaces. I had some grass carnations overwintering in my greenhouse, and since they had weak shoots before winter, to preserve them, I buried the pots in the greenhouse soil and covered them with a pile of dry leaves in late autumn.
I planted white alyssum in the holes where the tulips froze. Soon it will grow and bloom with fragrant flowers.
For now, part of my flower garden looks like this.
But I decided not to dig up the tulips in the summer. If they survive the winter, let them grow, but if they freeze, then it’s not meant to be.