Preparing for spring

I spent my weekend raking up leaves from our trees in the front yard and carrying them to the backyard to use as winter cover for my garden beds. I had plenty of leaves to mulch with.

The neighbor's cat couldn't resist checking out my progress.

A few weeks back, after the first frost, I planted about 60 new tulip bulbs in my garden. I tried to space them between the tulips I left in the ground last year. I'm not exactly sure if last year's tulips are hardy enough to last another winter, so it will be a bit of a backyard experiment for me. But the tulips turned out so beautiful last spring, I couldn't bring myself to dig them up.

Once again, I bought the tulip bulbs from a local Earl May garden center. They are an Iowa-based family business that buys their tulips directly from Holland. I love buying my garden seeds and tulips at Earl May, because I know they will carry varieties that grow well in our Midwest climate.

Here's my list of tulip varieties I planted for spring 2010:

• Donald Duck - Early spring tulip, bright red with yellow edges


• American Dream - Mid-spring tulip, orange/yellow


• Apricot Parrot - Late-spring tulip, apricot with yellow and green


• Happy Generation - Mid-spring tulip, white with red


• Bing Crosby - Mid-spring tulip, bright red


• White Dream - Mid-spring tulip, white

I'm feeling bright and sunny just thinking about these beauties and how great they will look in my garden next spring.