Tulip ‘Ollioules’ is a rosy-pink tulip with a silver-white edge. I’ve seen photos of this cultivar and although my flowers are pretty, they are a bit more pale than I expected.
‘Ollioules’ is being shaded by a 4-foot rose bush that has already leafed out completely. That’s a rare situation this early in the season and could be contributing to Ollioules’s lack of color. ‘Ollioules’ is a Darwin tulip. It grows 22 inches tall with very large blooms.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner, but it finally dawned on me recently that if someone is going to cut off my tulip blooms it should be me. My flowers now bloom in vases safe from grabby mitts and sharp teeth.
Apparently I’m not the only one with this vexing problem. I took a walk in the neighborhood last week and noticed the head of a bright-orange tulip dangling from the crotch of a crabapple tree. Underneath the tree sat a healthy clump of tulip plants. They all had stems, but not a single one of them had a flower on it. They had all been beheaded.
At least I know I won’t be alone at the support group meeting.