The tulips are coming to an end. This morning I picked the last of the Fantasy and
Queen of the Night, above. As Queen of the Night has a sleeker more compact form than any of the other tulips I grew, I could never quite bring myself to cut a full bunch as it would have meant picking them all. Instead I just picked two or three at a time and slotted them in with other tulips. With the parrots it was always possible to create a full-seeming bunch from only four or five flowers if I put them in a tight-necked vase.

I also picked all but the last pot of Rococo and the least storm-damaged of the T. Hermitage, T. Couleur Cardinal and T. Princess Irene. I’ve got them here on my desk, a welcome blast of colour when everything else looks so dull and grey.

So that’s nearly it for the home grown tulips. Until next year. And it seems only right to end this post with a photograph for my fellow Dead Tulip Fanciers…