The Garden Magazine, October, 1923 
85 
WHERE DARWINS LIFT THEIR STURDY CHALICES 
There is a bold certainty about this group of Tulips that leaves its impress on the spectator, and it is difficult to imagine a more 
beautiful range of color—rose, lavender, wine, old gold, maroon—everything except yellow, which is never found on a true Darwin 
Tulips, called Lily-flowered (though often classed with the Cot¬ 
tage varieties). The only one I have tried is Sirene, of a rather 
hard shade of rose. It blooms with great heartiness, and is 
like nothing else, but 1 cannot admire it—its very narrow curv¬ 
ing pointed petals look like torn strips of paper. 
A Picked Company of Breeders 
A MONG the Breeders, I am less at home. 1 have not tried 
l very many, and 1 have by no means liked even all of those. 
But 1 do love Cardinal Manning, and always want him. 
There is no other Tulip of just that shade of deep winey lav¬ 
ender. And the shape is as lovely as the color, and the vigor 
of the variety is equal to both. My next favorite is Mme. 
Lethierry. It is a big oblong flower, of a soft dull pink. 
1 have not made it sound attractive in my description, but it is, 
and has great charm and individuality. But a bright pink 
neighbor kills it. Put it beside Rev. H. EwBANK'for a very soft 
and lovely color harmony. 
Salomon is a delicately hued lavender Breeder of particu¬ 
larly good shape in the bud, though the color is just a bit 
washy. Marie Louise is an adorable little old rose, with 
orange tinge. And the old and seldom seen Gerarda is inter¬ 
esting in color. 
Of all that I’ve had the foregoing are the only ones 1 have 
really liked. The brown and yellow Jaune d’Oeuf and the 
very similar Queen Alexandra could not thrill any one, 1 
should think, nor could the weak-toned Apricot and Wilber- 
force. Ruby is unusual in its deep red, but has a very ugly 
shape. Groote Samson is too somber to make a pleasant com¬ 
panion. Bacchus grows with a very good will, and seems to 
bloom all over my garden, but it, too, is very somber. 1 n other 
gardens, I have rather admired Indian Chief and Heloise 
and Yellow Perfection; also, Louis XIV, so very striking in 
its contrasted purple and golden brown that 1 hope to have it 
another year, even though I shall probably not like it when 
I get it here. 
1 love the best of the Early Doubles, but the only Late 
Doubles that I know, Yellow Rose and Bleu Celeste (do not 
confuse the latter with the single Bleu Celeste already named) 
are not very good. They are too dumpy in shape. 
Fantastic and Fascinating Parrots 
HE Parrot Tulips I adore and wonder why they are not 
better known. True, the stems are not very strong, but 
they are more than compensated for by the great slashed flow¬ 
ers, with their harlequin air. I enjoy few flowers more than 
Cramoisie Brilliant, deep red with blackish marks, and 
Lutea major, golden yellow touched with red and green stripes. 
Markgraaf von Baden is gayer yet, but not so vigorous. 
1 have told enough about my dear company of Tulips. But 
may I here number together those I could positively not be 
happy without? They are Pride of Haarlem, Clara Butt, 
Louise de la Valliere, Remembrance, Ronald Gunn, 
Viking, Primrose Beauty, Emerald Gem, Avis Kennicott, 
Cardinal Manning, Mme. Lethierry, Cramoisie Brilliant, 
and Lutea major —a baker’s dozen. 
And may I try to say, in a few poor words, why 1 so dearly 
love Tulips? They are beautiful and varied in color and 
shape. They are superbly decorative outdoors or in. They 
are noble in their simplicity and dignity. They are old flowers, 
that have been in our gardens for centuries. They are stead¬ 
fast flowers, that remain the same for day after day (unlike the 
fleeting beauties of the Iris tribe), and, in the case of the stur¬ 
dier varietes, that appear during spring after spring. And to 
me personally they are endeared by more than one tender as¬ 
sociation, so that 1 must cherish the one as long as the other. 
