Tulips in Chicago

The Chicago Botanic Gardens had splendid displays of hundreds of thousands of tulips

last week, when I visited.  As you walked out of the Enabling Garden and began to

follow the path through the Sensory Garden, this gorgeous display welcomed you.The tulips are "Angelique," double pink-and-white.  The blue are pansies.

"Angelique" double tulips and pale blue pansies along the wall.

Each "Angelique" tulip has a different mixture of pink and white.

The Lakeside Garden had eight large beds of pink, white, and red tulips.

Pink, white, and red tulips.

Ever since tulips were discovered, there was one blossom per stem.  Then a few years ago,

horticulturalists developed "cluster tulips," with five or six flowers on a stem.

These cluster tulips, "Antoinette," were some of my favorites this year.  Not only are

there five and six blossoms on a stem, but they go through three color changes during

their blooming.  They start as pale yellow-green-white, and then a few days later they

become brilliant yellow and raspberry, and a few days later they turn to orange and rust.

The beds of "Antoinette" were spectacular.

"Antoinette" cluster tulips.

Delicate pink and white, "Lovely Lady" tulips.  The names of all the flowers are posted

on the internet each week on the Garden's website.

These beautiful double purple tulips were along the path in the Sensory Garden.

Each section featured a different color - purple, red, yellow, orange, pink, etc.,

and many other flowers with those colors were also displayed.

These lovely tulips, "Pillow Talk," were one of the featured tulips this year.

"Intense Red" was dazzling.

"Prince of Orange" was named in honor of the King of the Netherlands.

This is part of the path and beds in the Sensory Garden.  You are invited to touch

and smell the various plants, which have been specially chosen for their aroma

and textures.

This dark beauty is "Victoria's Secret."

Close-up of "Victoria's Secret"

"Dutch Painter" Parrot Tulips.  Parrot Tulips have the feathered edges on petals.

"Dutch Painter" Parrot Tulips

"Peppermint Patty" Tulips.  Notice the white edges of the leaves, which is a recent development.

"Blush" single late tulip, very tall.

Purple Waterlily Tulips

"Golden Artist" Tulip

Double yellow huge tulips.

Various tulips, yellow nemesia, and red ranunculus/Persian Buttercups.

Easter Egg Tulips and Pink "Margarita" tulips in the Circle Garden.

Pink tulips, red Moroccan Toadflax, and blue pansies.

Purple cluster tulips

"Glowing Embers" tulips

"Brown Sugar" Triumph Tulips

"Brown Sugar" Triumph Tulips

"Day Dream" tulips

"Burnt Siena" and "Red Hot" Tulips

"Fiery Bush" Tulips

"Precious" Lily Tulips, with flared lips

"Pillow Talk" and "Triumph" Tulips in the Circle Garden

"Victoria's Secret" and "Lemon Drop" Tulips