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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Lady Jane Tulip, Small Stature, Big Impact


Tulipa 'Lady Jane' is most definitely in the I Want More category!


I love this hybrid tulip even if it's not the species, Tulipa clusiana with which it is often confused. The species has a purple painted throat and the petal color is a darker red.  I want  that one, too. 


Both hybrid 'Lady Jane' and the Tulipa clusiana will return and increase each spring if planted in well drained soil that stays dry during the summers.  I was reading this morning that this bulb  needs dividing more often than botanical tulips...Just be sure and give the tiny offsets a dry winter spot with good drainage and ix-nay on removing those leaves before they have yellowed.
I have no complaints about the sweet face of hybrid 'Lady Jane' and appreciate her habit of blooming early enough to disappear before the wildflower show that follows.  The bulbs are small and you can tuck them between plants where they will make a fine vignette with the Tommies (Crocus tommasinianus), Grape Hyacinths and violas.  Lady Jane has enough white, pink, and yellow to  be a good companion for other smaller bulbs, but, pretty enough to stand alone in the garden. 

Thanks go to my good friend Frances of Fairegarden fame, it was at her urging that Lady Jane came to live in my garden.  They may be small of stature, but, they have a big impact.

xoxogail

 Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone." She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

27 comments:

  1. I love the sweet 'Lady Jane' and I plant a few more of her every year. She cheers me beyond imagining. I think the gray foliage is one of my favorite things about her.

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  2. Oh my, stunning and elegant, what a beauty. I do wish we could grow tulips here, but they're caviar for the local cervid population. I am very tempted to try hiding a few in our French oak barrel planters though. This one would definitely be worthy of growing.

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  3. What a pleasant surprise! Thanks Gail, for the linkage. Your Ladies look delightful. What a great color to go with the yellows and blues at this time of year. I divided my ladies last year and am puzzled by where I planted them, I am wondering if the squirrels did some rearranging, or maybe it was me. Who knows? HA

    xxxooo
    Frances

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  4. She is quite refined but then she is a Lady. I hope to see mine in two weeks time. I will let you know.

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  5. How pretty! I just planted some last fall too. No sign of them yet & I have the area swathed in chicken wire to thwart the squirrels.

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  6. Very tempting...they are lovely in your garden.

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  7. I agree, just lovely!

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  8. I will enjoy them in your garden, instead of wanting them for mine... but only because I'm not really a soft-pink girl! (Not in my own back yard, anyway. Although I admire it here, and elsewhere. ;-)

    Hmm... I never thought too much about dividing my tulips. But you might have just given me an excuse to dig up mine this spring and stash a few at my future mother-in-law's garden! That way, I can dig them up next spring and (hopefully) move them to my new house...

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  9. Pretty! I have the species tulip and I just posted about them on my blog. I planted some "Lady Jane" hybrids the same time but they haven't bloomed yet.

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  10. Lady Jane is a beauty. I have some sweet short tulips. They are red and I forget their names but they are already blooming here. Such a sweet face looking up into the sun. They make one's heart feel full.

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  11. How lovely to read this post Gail,
    My Mum gave me Lady Jane for my last garden and they were a delight - your beautiful pictures have reminded me just how pretty they are! They have gone on my wishlist to buy in the Autumn.
    K
    xx

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  12. 'Lady Jane' is such a pretty little thing, especially all decked out in my favorite shade of pink for spring. I need to remember these when buying tulips this fall.

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  13. A big plant trapped in a small plants body Beautiful!!

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  14. Hi Gail, you got me to plant the Tommies and I love them, as do the bumbles. Now I've got to go out and snatch up these sweet Ladies as partners- thanks to you (and Frances) for the planting inspirations :) Amazing photos!

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  15. Every time I see Lady Jane in the catalogs I think of getting her - she looks so pretty! I usually don't plant too many tulips, though, as they are usually annuals here, and it's a fight with the squirrels to get them to come up even the first year!

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  16. So pretty, Gail! Tulips don't seem to survive foraging wildlife around here, but I sure do enjoy seeing them in your garden!

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  17. Wow! I've never heard of Tulipa 'Lady Jane' until today and she is a really beauty! I would love to have some of those blooms in a given spring. I'll have to remember to look for them next Fall. Do you get them from a special mail-order?

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  18. Gail these are too cute....seems they may have to come into my garden this fall :)

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  19. That is a beautiful tulip. It makes me wish I'd had planted some last year.

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  20. She's quite a sweet tulip! Such delicate form and creamy throat. Is your weather as glorious (but unnatural) as ours? We've had two days of 85 degrees here and will be 80 today, even with rain. I worry what temperatures we'll have by summer!

    Sorry that I've been away from blogs and blogging. 2012 has been quite rough with family injuries, illnesses and one loss. Hope your cold is better. Take care of yourself!

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  21. Dear Gail, Lovely 'Lady Jane' does have a graceful impact. I love the clusters of pointy petaled blooms. I am sure that even your wildflowers delight in her delicate qualities. Happy (almost) Spring!

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  22. What a beautiful flower. I would love a tulip that returns. I don't have problems with squirrels but the deer ate all the species tulips that I had last spring. I added a few last fall but only in beds very close to the house.

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  23. Gail,
    I LOVE tulips, although they hardly seem to 'work for a living' -- my normal screen for plants. They're lovely, and encouraging, and signs of springs, to be sure.

    Lisa

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  24. You have me a little confused on this species tulip 'thing'. I have Lady Jane and Cynthia and thought both were T. clusiana. The internet is confusing about this. What more do you know? These are the only tulips which do well in Austin 3 years and counting!

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    1. jenny, I always thought 'Lady Jane' was the real clusiana deal, but, I've read several articles that claim that Lady J is just a hybrid. Go to Old House Gardens to see what they say about it. gail

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  25. I like all the blooms you showed, but that Lady Jane is my favorite.

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