IN THE PINK

A flock of flamingoes hasn’t just visited us; the photo was taken at London Zoo.  I should dearly love some flamingos - we do have a pond after all, but I’m not sure what they eat - I think it’s shrimps, and we only have tadpoles and dragonfly larvae.  We might have to stick with moorhens for now.

Almost as lovely as a flamingo are these ‘China Pink’ tulips - a lily flowered type that’s fairly reliable.  It’s very annoying when tulip flowers don’t come back the following year; the bulbs often  split and decrease in size rather than bulk up and spread about like bulbs ought to.  The more exotic the tulip, the less likely it is to show it’s face again.  Conversely, the closer it is to the species, the more reliable it is.  ‘China Pink’ reappears about half of the time, which isn’t too bad.

Tulips like free draining soil and absolutely detest sitting in the wet.  They are from a drier climate than ours - indigenous in countries like Turkey and  Iran - they spend most of their time waiting under the ground for the brief spring rains.  I know how they feel.
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