Deseret Book Gospel Vision of the Arts Scholarship Program

Last Spring I was featured at a "Lunch and Learn"  at the Deseret Book Flagship Store at City Creek.  My daughter sent one of her paintings with me and everyone loved it so much that they asked both of us to paint blocks for the Gospel Vision of the Arts Scholarship Program auction. 

We had so much fun working on these in my studio together.  I love how simple and sweet Grace's turned out.  I kept looking at hers and it made me keep working and working on mine because I wanted it to feel more like hers!  I love how they both turned out, you really ought to go see them in person.

There are many wonderful little paintings that will be auctioned off from many great artists.  I feel honored to be among them.

Participating Scholarship Bock Artists:

Annie Henrie Cristall Harper

James Christensen Brian kershisnik

Ben Behunin Howard Lyon

Amy Tolk Richards J. Kirk Richards

Sarah Samuelson Grace Samuelson

Linda Curly Christensen Robert A. Boyd

Scott Sumner Robert T. Barrett

Jenny Elizabeth Shirley McKay Britsch

Justin Kunz Julie Rogers

Christopher Young Mary Summerhays

Sandra Rast Cassandra Barney

Elandra Garbett Glenda Gleave

Rose Datoc Dall           Jennifer Thompson

Liz Lemon Swindle

I told my daughter that it is amazing for her to be included in such a list as a five year old, to which she replied, "I was a four year old when I painted it"  She makes me smile.  I am glad we got to do this.

The auction runs from October 26th through December 10th.  100% of the proceeds will go to the 2012 Gospel Vision of the Arts Scholarship program.

To bid contact Linda Howard: 801-328-8191

lindarubyhoward@gmail.com.

What to do with your tulips now

The late tulips are still in bloom, I love having tulips in bloom for as much time as possible. So we have a great variety to ensure this, and we add to them every year. Late tulips that are planted in spots that don't get a lot of full sun are in their prime here right now. If you want to get some good late tulips, go to The Thanksgiving Point Garden Path Greenhouse right now and get some bulbs ($3.oo a dozen) and pick out the ones that are still attached to leaves and even still have a colorful bloom- if they are really fresh- you can even plant them right now)

Now that many of the tulips are no longer in bloom, there are some things you ought to be doing to get them ready for next year.

I was looking through my blog to see if I had addressed this already... and I had. I did last year. I had started "Be Still", but I only liked one part of the painting back then. Anyway, check out these tips to help you with your tulips.

caring for cut tulips

I love having fresh tulips inside to enjoy. I love watching them bloom and grow (yes, tulips continue to grow even after they are cut- an inch or so is typical). I love to photograph them and paint them. This is a photo I took of a tulip I have been enjoying that I recently cut from our yard.

I often hear complaints about tulips just not lasting very long, especially cut tulips.

Tulip paintings and prints last super long... but so can your cut tulips, I have some great tips to help:

1. Select tulips that have a tight or nearly closed bloom.

2. Remove any green leaves that would be submerged in the water. The stems will also die back first- remove them as soon as they begin to wilt.

3. Trim the stem at an angle with sharp scissors or a knife (do this while the stem is wet and do not allow it to dry out before being put in the vase) Trim the stems a little more each day.

4. Change the water in your vase at least once a day. I like to use cold water, I even add ice chips sometimes. (tulips like to be cold- that is why they thrive in colder climates and early spring)

6. Display your tulips in a cool place free from direct sunlight or draft from the heater vent.

5. Put your tulips in the fridge at night (this will give them the same cold treatment they would get outside in the ground and it prolongs the life of the bloom) I know it sounds silly, but it will really make them last a lot longer.

I can keep tulips going inside for around 2 weeks using all of these tulip tips.

Oh, and one more tip: Because tulips grow after they are cut- they tend to conform to the shape of the vase and the stems become curvy. If you want to straighten them, you can wrap a few layers of damp newspaper around them for a few hours (keep them in the vase while you do this)

Enjoy your cut tulips!

When will the tulips bloom?

There are many factors that contribute to when tulips bloom, like the weather, how much sun they get, how deep they are planted and what type of tulips they are.

There are actually thousands of different types of tulips, and they are broken down into 15 specific classifications. I am focusing on 3 basic variations for this post: early, middle, and late.

Early tulips generally bloom in late March to early April. They tend to be about 8 to 15 inches in height. Early tulips begin blooming while daffodils and crocus are still in bloom.

Middle tulips bloom 5 to 10 days after the early tulips and tend to be a little taller than the early ones, and a little hardier and more suited to cutting and bringing inside to enjoy.

Late tulips are truly elegant, they tend to have long sturdy stems and large blooms and include the parrot varieties. Many tulip festival patrons miss out on these beauties because they bloom so much later- 5 to 10 days more after the middle tulips, often blooming well into June and the crowds at the gardens tend to dramatically taper after the advertised days of the Tulip Festival have passed. The tulips are still there, just not the venders live music and such.

I hope this information is helpful in getting the most enjoyment out of tulip season this year, I still think a membership to the gardens is a great way to go and then go a few times so you get to see more varieties of tulips.

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!