Gerbera Daisy

I have been thinking about Gerbera Daisies lately. This is a painting I did a while ago, but I have always loved it and so I thought I would share it here. It is acrylic on illustration board.

The tulips are pretty much gone

Unless you have a tulip painting. Those last really long. If you don't have a tulip painting or print, I can help you out.

But if you do have tulips in your yard, they should pretty much be gone, and I can help you out with those too.

You should ideally "deadhead", or trim the stems of the tulips in your garden. The seedpod in the above photo is not desirable, why, because it is robbing the bulb of valuable nutrients. If you have any tulips left in this state, go ahead and give them a trim. Allow the leaves to die back and then be careful not to saturate the beds they are planted in with too much water (this can cause rotting) Some people will go ahead and pull up the bulbs and allow them to dry then replant them in the fall.

At Thanksgiving Point, they actually pull out all their tulips every year and then sell them for $3.00 a dozen! They plant over 250,000 every year, and there are still tulips available this year. You can purchase them at the greenhouse in the gardens. They are all mixed, so you won't know just what you are getting, but then it is so fun to wait and see in the spring! (if you get them all from the same bins, they will probably be a lot of the same tulips) When you get home, get them out of the plastic bags and allow them to dry, if the greens are still attached, allow them to dry until they get brittle and you can snap them off. The next step is to go buy a 3 pack of queen size panty hose, then fill them up with your bulbs and hang them up somewhere dark, cool and dry (67 degrees is perfect) a basement cellar is a great place, garages get too hot and too cold.

Then the first or second week of October, pull them out and plant them!

In the spring you will be so happy that you did it!

red watercolor tulips

This is one of my favorites. The original is hanging in one of my favorite friend's home. Luckily, it is still available as a print! I have lithographs that will be for sale at The Orem Summerfest along with many other great prints. We have many already framed and ready for your walls. There will be so many fun things going on at the festival, check out the link for more details... and don't miss Arts in the Park!