It’s mid-May, but it looks like early or mid-April in southern Wisconsin. The Dutchman’s breeches have only been blooming for about a week now:
It’s also a little unusual to see Grape Hyacinth just opening their blooms this late in the season:
It’s not a good year for tulips. I think some of them were stressed from the drought in 2012. Many of my Double Early tulips have a stem with one petal hanging from them and that’s it. And it doesn’t look like they were disturbed by rodents. And quite a few of my species tulips are just missing entirely.
Some of my Darwin tulips looked promising until a gang of squirrels beheaded them all. I watched the little beasts from my window and was unable to stop the carnage in time. They seemed to be using the flowers for toys. They’d rip the heads off and then roll them around in their hands—almost like they were playing with a walnut. Some of the squirrels took a bite or two, but eventually they’d toss them aside.
One squirrel was even more playful. He’d grab a blossom and then roll around on the ground with it. For several days there were colorful tulip petals all over my yard. I was not amused.
A few flowers managed to escape the wreckage:
