TRUE OR false: a penny, a sugar cube, a splash of bleach or a dash of soda pop in the vase water will help cut tulips last longer? Although many people think these tips are true, unfortunately none of them will help.

The only additive that actually has any effect is cut flower ‘*food,”’ the white powder avail- able in litle packets in most places where flowers are sold. This food not only prolongs the vase life, it helps the flowers open more fully and retain their natural color.

If you take the trouble to put the vase in a cool room each night, and keep it out of direct sun and drafts during the day, your tulip bouquet will last even longer.

Canadians can enjoy tulips right now and through the winter. Al- though they and other spring- flowering bulbs won't be in bloom in the garden for several months yet, they are widely available as cut flowers. Dutch and other pro- fessional flower growers work with a wide variety of cultivars that force well through the winter months and tulips today are on the market virtually year-round.

Forced tulips are grown in greenhouses. Their biological clocks have been altered by special temperature treatments so that they bloom earlier than usual. Fortunately, interfering with the tulip’s biorhythm does not seem to affect the flowering in the least. On the contrary, the quality of these forced flowers is just as high

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Friday, February 14, 1992 - North Shore News - 24

= HOME & GARDEN fm Enjoy tulips right through the winter

ALTHOUGH TULIPS and other spring-flowering bulbs won’t be in bloom in the garden for several

months yet, they are widely available as cut flowers.

as those that will be harvested outdoors a few months from now.

Several classes of tulips lend themselves well to forcing. The Triumph group, for instance, con- tains more varieties suitable as cut flowers than any of the other classifications.

At Jabot, we bave made quality window coverings accessible to everyoze. So whether your decorating

Triumphs, which flower in mid-spring outdoors, were hybridized at the turn of the last century. The name is quite ap- propriate in that these tulips are triumphant in many ways. The grouping contains more varieties than any other; more of them are

people envision when they think of tulips. Five of the world’s favorite tulips are Triumphs: ‘Merry Widow’, ‘White Dream’, ‘Attila’, ‘Kees Nelis’ and ‘Don Quichotte’.

The group of tulips known as Darwin hybrids is just behind Triumphs in order of popularity and importance. Created in the mid-1930s, Darwin hybrids gener- ally have large, brightly-colored flowers and a blossom that is almost triangular in shape. ‘Apeldoorn’ and ‘Golden Apeldoorn’ are two of the best known Darwin hybrid tulips; the second is the most often cuitivated tulip of the entire group.

Lily-flowered and double late or peony-flowered tulips are two other types that attract attention. Both of these are unusual in that they bearlittle resemblance to the classical tulip appearance.

Lily-flowered tulips, modeled on the botanical Tulipa retroflexa species, bear long, slim blossoms whose pointed petals bend in to a form a waist and then arch backwards gracefully. In the garden they bloom in mid-season but are available as cut flowers from mid-winter onwards. Pinks, reds, whites and yellows are the most popular.

Peony-flowered tulips are aptly named; these are double blooms with a diameter of 10 cm (4 in.). The best-known cultivar probably is ‘Angelique’, which bears pink flowers that .are very similar in appearance to the fre- quently-cultivated rose-colored Peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’. While we have to wait until summer for

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grown commercially, and there is a wider range of colors in the Triumph group than any other single type. Sturdy stems shaped flowers Triumphs. This oval-shaped bloom

and bdeautifully- characterize the is the classical,

that most See Tulips page 22

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EATURING a wide range of quality window coveriags, including; ' Drapery Fabrics, California Shatters, and Silhouette Shades.

We also stock fabrics ideally suited for Upholstery and Bedding.

We would be pleased to coordinate all asperts of your

interior decorating project,

including Paint and Mill Work.

JABOT

plans be modest or ambitious, whether your budget be limited or Mexible, drop by to see us. Together we can turn your plans into reality.

Specializing in

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WINDOW FASHIONS