Time Capsule Gardening
La Belle Epoque
The people who lived during the turn of the 20th century were true romantics. Inspired by the popular Art Nouveau movement they followed the lines of nature in all their designs, including their gardens. Colors were soft, fragrance was important, and roses were all the rage. If you want to bring elements of this gilded age into your own garden, you can’t go wrong with peony tulips.
- Soft pink Tulip Amazing Grace actually has more petals than peony roses, giving it the air of opulence and abundance most associated with this era.
- Its brother, Tulip Copper Image, has to be seen to be believed. Is it salmon? Is it copper gold? Is it red? With its luxurious feel, a bouquet of these beauties would look perfectly at home in the drawing room of a stately home.
To showcase these beauties together with the objects of their time, anything Victorian is always a winner: Place your tulips on a beautiful cast-iron garden table or chair, or plant them in a wicker basket or a copper pot (making sure the actual pot they’re in has ample drainage).
The Fifties
Often our first thought when thinking of the style of the fifties is pastel colors: the dresses, cars and fridges of the day were a soft powdery pink, yellow, green or blue. But this pastel was not romantic like the Belle Epoque, but fresh and a bit regimented. This was the era of keeping up with the Joneses. Your front garden was an extension of your kitchen, and you were judged by how trim you kept your lawn and how pristine your beds and borders were. In spite of the pastel ideal in many design areas, this was also the time of technicolor and ‘better living through chemistry’, symbolized by bright, brighter, brightest colors. What better way to symbolize this strict yet colorful time than with the most regal of all the tulips: Darwin Hybrids.
- Bright yellow Tulip Golden Parade will proudly stand sentinel next to your garden path, letting everyone know they’re dealing with a well-controlled garden.
- Deep red Tulip Parade has the color of a cherry pie baked by the quintessential 50’s housewife.
To add some extra vintage-feel to your display, it’s time to start foraging in the 1950s kitchen. Embrace the pastel, and put your red tulips in a pink kitchen canister set, or plant your yellow tulips next to a wall bearing an iconic 1950s diner sign.
The seventies
While the turn of the century was all about following the lines of nature, and the fifties were all about controlling nature, the seventies is the decade when we went back to the land, following the will of nature. Let everything grow exactly the way it wants, wherever it wants to. But when it comes to plants and gardening, the seventies are truly (in)famous for one thing. Maybe the memory makes you shudder, maybe it makes you smile, but there was no way around macramé plant pot holders…But this is great news for flower bulbs, as they are more then happy to grow in a pot, provided there is enough drainage.
- Mini Daffodil Tete a Tete feels completely at home in a pot, bringing a happy yellow vibe wherever you hang it.
- The seventies wasn’t the most optimistic time, but no matter how bearded the face or how gloomy the outlook, Anemone St Brigid Mix would have brought a smile to everyone who saw it.
If you’re truly dedicated to recreating the seventies feel, start looking for brown earthenware pots and orange thread, and let your old aunt or YouTube teach you how to macramé like a pro!
Pick Your Time
Whichever era you prefer, DutchGrown has the flower bulbs to suit it. To make your garden dreams become a reality, simply surf to our easy-to-use website, place your order, and before you know it our top-quality bulbs will be arriving on your doorstep!
