“Peppermintstick”

Tulip season has arrived – hurrah! I anticipate several happy weeks, in which I savour and enjoy every variety that I carefully chose and planted last November. I have several lasagne-style tulip pots at the front of the house, as well as a sizeable display round the back . . .

. . . and I also planted three varieties of species tulip in different parts of the garden:

“Little Beauty”, which really lives up to its name with its gorgeous bold pink petals . . .

. . . and variegated blue-black centre . . .

“Hilde”, whose petals are white with a delicate pale pink wash . .

. . . and open to reveal an egg-yolk yellow centre . . .

. . . and “peppermintstick” – a popular variety, which definitely resembles its name.

All three of these species tulips are now thriving in sunny areas of the garden, having survived the best efforts of a marauding gang of field mice (who clearly love them) as well as a rather wet winter.

I love all of these species tulips, but pepperminstick has really surprised and delighted me. It has much taller stems than the other two varieties . . .

The catalogues suggest the stems grow to 30cm, but the majority of mine are more like 40-45cm. They are tough and robust, though, and have happily withstood the rather strong winds we’ve recently had in South Kintyre.

The flower bud is a pale pinkish green as it develops . . .

. . .only revealing its full-on candy cane colours when in full flower.

Like all species tulips, peppermintstick really enjoys the sun.

On a cloudy day its petals remain upright and closed, retaining that characteristic tall goblet tulip shape. . .

But when the sun shines, the flowers gradually open . . .

. . . and the tulips bob about in the breeze like little stars . . .

. . displaying their pollen-rich interiors to passing insects

I think peppermintstick is a glorious tulip, whatever the weather . . .

. . . and has a really pleasing effect when it is planted fairly densely . . .

. . . although individual blooms definitely have their own delicate beauty.

Enough of the peppermintsticks – what of the book? Well, Knitting Wester Ross has arrived, looks absolutely fantastic, and, thanks to the best efforts of Tom, KC and Kendall, will begin winging its way around the world today (hurrah!) International orders will go out first, with UK orders heading out the door towards the end of this week. We hope to be able to put the book on general release this weekend – so there will be a shop update (and newsletter) on Saturday or Sunday, if that’s of interest to you. It is such a relief to have this book in hand, and published, at long last.

I and my peppermintsticks intend to enjoy the sun today.