Welcome to our first in a series of flickr flower photo highlights – check back as we select our favorite flower pictures each week!

photo credit: arvindgrover

photo credit: lissalou66

photo credit: [lauren nelson]

photo credit: elbfoto
Happy Spring!

The tulip genus offers literally thousands of varieties, with more being created all the time. Yet all this complexity can be boiled down into 15 official divisions. But even that number is often reduced into a few simple categories by considering such simple things as bloom time.
One way to arrange a garden is by bloom [...]

Tulips first evolved in the mountain regions of Central to Western Asia near present-day Turkey and Kazakhstan. That area of the Earth naturally has cold winters, spring that supplies ample rain, followed by long, hot and dry summers. As a result, not surprisingly, those are exactly the conditions in which tulips thrive best.
But recreating those [...]

Tulips love to be outdoors when the climate is right. They originated in Central to Western Asia, near present-day Turkey and Kazakhstan. Cold winters and hot, dry summers preceded by a few weeks of good spring rain will make them grow healthy and fast. A garden blessed with those conditions will require very little else [...]

Dozens of flower species make for popular decorating elements. Roses often make it from the garden into the vase. Daisies cheer many a home. Peonies, chrysanthemums and daffodils are perennial favorites. But in this pantheon of flowers a special place must be reserved for tulips.
Thinking of tulips we often have the image of a solid [...]

One of the great things about tulips, apart from their sheer beauty, is how easy they are to plant and care for.
 

 If you time your planting well, or just get lucky, you may not need to water the soil at all before planting your bulbs. Tulips first evolved in rocky, relatively poor soil in hot, [...]

Red roses are often associated with passion. But they’re not the only flower that can inspire great love.
Centuries ago tulips were unknown in Europe. They rested quietly in remote regions of Central and Western Asia near present-day Turkey, Kazakhstan and others. Enterprising traders, overcome by the flower’s beauty, strived mightily to import them to Europe, [...]

Tulips make lovely additions to any outdoor garden. But they also thrive in pots.

 
The tulip’s nature and the specific cultivar dictates the type of pot that should be selected. Some dwarf Darwins will only grow to about six inches. Other Darwins may grow as high as 30 inches. Triumphs range everywhere from ten to 16 [...]

Many experts justifiably treat tulips as annuals. Let them bloom once and enjoy the flowers, they say, but be prepared to plant them again year after year. There’s ample justification for that approach, since it makes a lot of things easier. But some gardeners will want to preserve their tulips and take their chances at [...]

Few flowers are as easy to care for as tulips. While not technically annuals, they often don’t last more than a year or two. Replanting, therefore, saves the trouble of watering, fertilizing and other tasks season after season to guarantee the next year’s growth. But a little bit of watering and feeding is never amiss [...]