Several years ago a friend who is an interior decorator called me to ask a favor. One of her clients had ordered several hundred tulips, but was ill and unable to plant them. The woman's husband had no interest in gardening, so my friend asked if I'd help her client by planting her tulips.
I've always been an enthusiastic bulb gardener, so I agreed to meet the woman and give her a hand. Janie and her husband were both attorneys - he for a corporate law firm and she for the US Army Corps of Engineers. They had three daughters, age 15 - 23 at the time and they were redecorating their home, one room at a time.
As I worked planting the bulbs, I learned that Janie had contracted an autoimmune disease as a result of taking a weight-loss drug. She was on medication that was pumped into her heart by a device she had to wear 24/7, so while she was mobile, she was not in any condition to work in her garden.
The following spring Janie called me and asked me to come see her tulips in bloom - it was a sight, for she had, indeed, ordered a lot of bulbs. That summer she called me and asked if I would help her order bulbs and plant them in the fall. I did, and the following spring she had a riot of color in her garden.
When I didn't hear from her by late August that year, I called and left a message on their answering machine, offering to help plan and plant Janie's tulips. A few days later Janie's husband called to say that they were out of town - they had taken an apartment in St. Louis, so they could be close to a hospital where Janie was on the waiting list for lungs to replace hers that were diseased. They had been in Sr. Louis since late spring. He asked me to order and plant tulips - it would give Janie something to look forward to as she waited for her operation and recovered.
I ordered and planted the usual bulbs (Janie loved pastels, so there were lots of pink, lavender, apricot and creme colors) and two days before Thanksgiving, I got a call from Janie's husband, saying she'd received her new lungs, but that her body had been so stressed that she only lived a few hours after the operation.
The following spring Janie's spirit was alive in her garden as her tulips and daffodils brought cheer to all who saw them. That fall Janie's husband asked me to continue planting her bulbs as a tribute to Janie, so for the last three years, I've planned and planted three large beds of tulips in her 'memory garden'.
Janie's Tulips
Last August I ordered Janie's usual - an assortment of 1,200 early, mid-season and late tulips and 250 King Alfred daffodils - and last Saturday I began planting them. Two of the three beds are large crescents - one by the circle drive in front of the house, the other in the garden in the back. The third bed is only really seen from the bay window in Janie's bedroom, so I considered it her 'private' garden.
Here is the crescent in the garden behind the house. I always take the dirt out of the bed so I have an even surface to plant the bulbs.
I mix the bulbs in the bed - early, mid-season and late - and place daffodils throughout.
The bed will be in bloom from late March through May.
This year I planted a border of muscari and tete-a-tete narcissus. Janie's husband and children had a rock carved to mark the garden in Janie's memory.
After filling in the dirt, I top the bed with mulch.
That's a very beautiful thing for you and her family to do, LeawoodGardener.
Janie was such a kind soul - I felt such empathy when I met her because all she wanted was to live, raise her family and enjoy her garden.
I have to say, that is quite a gift you have given to her and her family. Planting 1200 bulbs! Jeez...I plant a hundred or so and think I'm dying! Please, please post pics in the Spring, ok? And thanks for being such a caring human being. My puny 100 just arrived, so I will think of both she and you as I plant them today, and count my blessings that I CAN plant them.
I stopped by Janie's to see how the bulbs were doing yesterday. The large bed by the driveway has Tete'a'Tete narcissus in front (already done) and King Alfred daffodils sprinkled throughout the bed. It's hard to see, but there are Pink Impression and Princess Irene tulips coming on to bloom after the daffodils have faded.
In the back yard I planted several mid- to late-season tulips with daffodils throughout and muscari at the border. After the daffodils fade the tulip show will begin.
The tulips are starting to show...
Wow! That's beautiful! And the tulips are just about ready. Can't wait to see them too.
Great job,
Sherry
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Thanks for posting the pics!
A lovely story & a lovely garden!
The tulips are taking over as the main attraction now. 'Maureen' and 'Pink Impression' in the bed in the front yard.
Another view.
In the back there are 'Don Quixote', 'Apricot Beauty', 'Queen of the Night', 'Isle de France', 'Princess Irene', 'Passionale' and a 'Mayflowering Pastel Mix'.
Stunning! Very pretty! How kind and generous of you to do! And they look great! I am definately going to have to order tons of bulbs this fall!
I just loved this story!!! Made me purchase 500 bulbs to plant!! Colorblend I purchased from, could not help myself...Since I.m redoing the bed on the front left side this year and the dirt has not been laid back down.. perfect time to put bulbs in =) Hopefully everything will bloom at the correct time and I have evrything in the right places now.... I'll get it right someday lol
jmr
Beautiful story - Beautiful person. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the kind words. Last weekend I planted Janie's tulips for next spring. This year I added a row of pink hyacinths ("Fondant") between the muscari and the tulips. I'll take pix when they bloom next spring.
We will look forward to the pictures.
Well I guess I should have visited Janie's house a couple of weeks ago. The hyacinths are done. The daffodils are done. The tulips and muscari are in full bloom, however.
The first pic is the bed in front, by the driveway.
The second pic is a bed in the back yard.
The third pic is a bed that is outside the first floor bedroom window. I planted it with "Angelique" double pink tulips.
The tulips look beautiful!
Very pretty. I really like the pink and purple!