At Denver Botanic Gardens, the flowers of 14,000 bulbs from Holland soon will unfurl as quintessential harbingers of spring.
After Wednesday’s snow gave the bulbs needed moisture, the tulips are on track to bloom next week, said Erin Bird, gardens spokeswoman. A few bulbs are already opening. Those showy tulips, along with the fragrant hyacinths, mass-plantings of colorful pansies, violas and Icelandic poppies will emulate a Dutch landscape in Denver.
“These flowers are so well loved and do so well in Colorado. We’re lucky because they won’t grow in a lot of places because itap too wet,” said Bridget Blomquist, a DBG horticulture specialist in annuals.
Last fall, Blomquist designed and planted 10 beds that make up the Annuals Garden and Pavilion. She’s keeping a close eye on the flower beds as bulbs come to life after their long winter’s nap. Blomquist anticipates blossom peak between the middle to the end of April.
Bird said tulip bulb alerts will be posted on the Denver Botanic Gardens’ Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, letting people know when the tulips reach their peak and when they start to fade.
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Don’t worry. Everything will be OK. The 🌷 are grateful for the 💦 and will continue to bloom. A horticulturist said despite the increased snow we received over the winter, some bulb leaves were looking limp and suffering from the heat, so the snow was appreciated.
— Denver Botanic Gardens (@denverbotanic)
The bulbs’ peak is arriving later this year after snow and cooler temperatures toward the end of winter and early in spring slowed the blooming process, Blomquist said.
“Itap always been my goal to have this display as bright and colorful as possible. In the past, I let the tulip mixtures drive the color palette, but this year I included just about every color under the sun,” said Blomquist.
She said she is eager to see her combination of dark purple “Paul Scherer” tulips with pink Icelandic poppies, and hyacinths in an array of pinks and coral colors under-planted with contrasting deep purple violas.
As if their delightful colors, forms and fragrances weren’t enough to recommend spring-flowering bulbs, they also attract honeybees.
But it’s not just the bees who are drawn by the bulbs and cold season annuals display. There are also swarms of people.
“Itap great when things are blooming and so fun to watch everyone around the garden taking pictures of their children with tulips. Itap a great backdrop,” Blomquist said, “And itap quite a buzz.”
