This week I finally pulled up the tulip bulbs to get some space back for perennials. They bloomed for weeks and filled that little corner of the garden with gorgeous soft pink tones. So beautiful but also such a learning curve, it appears I have a lot to learn about growing tulips!

For starters I planted the bulbs far too shallowly and the voles and shrews absolutely feasted on them. Some bulbs were completely eaten, leaving just a stem sticking out of the ground! I have had words with the cat but still, a lesson to learn for next year! I have been reading from various sources that for good stem length you need to plant them around 6" deep. A lot of digging then!

I also mixed up the varieties, which looked very pretty but left me completely clueless as to which were the perennial ones and which were annual. This autumn I'll plant all perennials on one side of the cutting garden and annual types in a different bed on the other.

Despite these problems I've loved them this spring. They're expensive for sure, I can buy in perfect, consistent, long stemmed flowers from The Netherlands for only a few pence more a stem than buying a bulb. They're delicious to rodents and high maintenance in a small cutting garden where they have to be lifted and replanted. But they are so beautiful, and so worth it!

L-R: 'Pink Star', 'Peach Blossom', 'Mondial', 'Angelique'. Paler appears to be better for long stems!

A cutting garden arrangement with 'Mondial', Anemones, hellebores, dicentra and raspberry greens.