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What’s Blooming, March 27, 2009 - It’s an Open and Shut Case
 The first tulip flowers have opened, many right at the front entrance to the Gardens, and they are gorgeous. At least they are gorgeous if you see them on a warm, sunny day.
 These tulips are Kaufmanniana hybrids. In bright sun, the petals open out, revealing a yellow center. We have two varieties: ‘Scarlet Baby’ is red; ‘Heart’s Delight’ is pink. ‘Heart’s Delight’ also has marked leaves, a characteristic of many Kaufmanniana tulips. These hybrid tulips are early bloomers and are a good choice for Indiana gardens. The bulbs seem to tolerate our clay soils and wet winters better than other tulips. Over the years, clumps gradually increase in size. What happens on a cloudy or cool day? The tulips are still quite attractive but look very different. The petals, which have closed overnight, stay tightly closed. If you see them this way, you may wonder why they cause excitement. Just wait, on a sunny day you’ll be rejoicing in the first tulips of spring.
  Meanwhile, out in the DeHaan Tiergarten, other bulbs are continuing to open. The hyacinths along the eastern Hilbert Conservatory wall are flowering and full of fragrance. A new glory of the snow, ‘Blue Giant’, is adding another color to the Discovery Garden. A popular favorite, Greek anemone (also called Grecian windflower, Anemone blanda) can be found in both white and blue. The early daffodils are still glorious, with more to come. The tulips in the Knot Garden and Clowes Water Garden beds are up, but it will be a while before we see flowers.
.jpg)  In the Ruth Lilly Shade Garden you may find small yellow flowers that remind you of strawberries. This is our native barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides). It makes a dense, spreading groundcover, but produces only a hard fruit that is inedible. It will grow in sun or shade and is drought tolerant once established. It flowers for just a few weeks in spring. If we have a warm winter and temperatures stay above 15 degrees F, the foliage will be evergreen. In most Indiana winters, we’ll lose the foliage, only to have it reappear in spring. Zones 3-7.
Mary Welch-Keesey
Consumer Horticulture Specialist
Purdue University
Dick Crum Resource Center at White River Gardens
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