I added a lot of stuffs to span the blooming season this year starting with a lot of species: -T. humulis 'Violacea' to bloom in March -T. turkstanica - March/April -species T. mixture - Little Beauty - Monsella - double early - Darwin - Impression collection - Mid season - Apricot & Fantasy Parrot to bloom after Darwin - West Point - lily flowering t. to bloom last. I hope I will have them in bloom non stop from March through May. I can only hope. :-) Of course, I have other spring bulbs to start from January on. Normally I don't have anything unitl late Feb, but this season, my Snowdrops have been blooming since November. :-D

Creme Upstar is a really pretty peony type tulip that I have used against my orangish (with black and other tones) brick. It is available at Scheepers. It is a very pale yellow with soft pinkish color along the edges. Don't let the pink tones scare you off, they go nicely with terracotta, & don't look particularily pink against the pale yellow. However, you will probably find that a bit of pink in the color tones of the tulips you pick will go better against terracota than pure orange-yellow tones, but through the years I have used both successfully. Tulips are so beautiful in spring that it is hard to make too big a mistake. For some hot oranges I have used Flair, also available from Scheepers. It is a single early that absolutely glows. I have also used it with the mid yellow Bellona (mostly Bellona and a few Flairs) for another eye popper. I tend to use a lot of early tulips so that I can replace them with annuals by the time frost danger is past. So if you plan on putting annuals in your box afterwards, you might also want to check into some Greggii tulips which are early bloomers. Toronto & Quebec are some eye catching Greggi tulips that work well together (one looks like a creamsicle, the other a solid salmon/shrimp color), but there are some others in the shrimp color range in Scheepers that might contrast just as well against your brick. If the brick is quite dark, you also might consider a white or cream colored tulip as well. The more contrast you can give, the better the tulips will show up. I have found that mid range oranges don't show up well next to my brick, but do very well out in the yard, where they play up the color (echo it) but are not next to it. Also Princess Irene is a pretty tulip (but not eye-popping bright) that looks nice with dark purple tulips, as do many orangish tulips. This combo about 25 feet from the brick plays up the brick very nicely. Somehow makes the dark blackish tones of the brick stand out. As far as the Grape Hyacinths, I wouldn't really bother with them in the planter box. They won't show up much from a distance, and may bloom too late or too early for your tulips. Use them in the ground where they can naturalize and spread a variety of tulips, daffs, & other bulbs near them. And mostly - just have fun deciding! Leslie

What is like the best is... scroll up and down again. What I really like the best is... oh wait a minute, scroll up and down again. What I really really like the best is... all of it. Christine p.s. to Avedon - I get wood hyacinth at Brent and Becky's. And they grow great in the south, had them all over the place in north Louisiana. Actually, they had themselves all over the place, they naturalize well.

Schoolhouse, after a bit of researching myself, I learned that it was the virus - a blight, that caused those original tulips to come out with unusual markings. So this was the reason these tulips are no longer available. Confirming what you have said. Many that are now sold are look alikes and may be found in other cultivars. All of the following varieties have Rembrandt colouring, although (in terms of size, form, flowering time, etc. ) they also belong to other classes: 1. Single Early: Keizerskroon* (red and yellow), Prince Carnival (yellow with red flames), Princess Irene* (orange with purple streaks) 3. Triumph Tulips: Ice Follies (white with dark red flames) 4. Darwin Hybrids: Burning Heart (white with red flames), Olympic Flame (yellow with red flames), Orange Bowl (red with yellow flames) 5. Single Late: Cordell Hull (white with red flames), La Courtine (yellow with red flames), Sorbet (white with raspberry flames), Union Jack (white with cherry red flames) 6. Lily-flowered: Mona Lisa (yellow with red streaks) In other words, you'll have to look into other classes to get the colour combination you've been searching for. Ianna