Walnuts and tulip bulbs.


Walnut in basket
Walnuts and tulip bulbs. These two items crossed my mind all week. You will probably wonder what have walnuts and flower bulbs to do with one another? I will explain.

An old farmer once told me, a lot of walnuts, is a forecast for a severe winter to come. I am believer of this kind of folk wisdom. So every year I asked him about the walnut harvest. Apart from the information I got about his walnuts, I was always pleased to hear his deep voice in Zeeland dialect.

The old farmer does not live anymore, but in the meantime I have a mature walnut tree myself. I used to order my flower bulbs based on the quantity of nuts. The idea is: if there are a lot of nuts - cold winter - I ordered some extra early tulip bulbs. In the years with few nuts - mild winters - I ordered some extra late species.

The idea sounds nice, but in practice there seems to be no connection whatsoever between walnuts and winter. It is better to buy early, as well as middle and late tulip varieties. By doing so you will be certain to have your tulips in bloom when the garden is open to the public!

I already placed my order for next year’s flower bulbs, but last week doubts have crept up. Did I do the right thing? Because as I am working in the vicinity of the walnut tree, I constantly hear: ... pats, ploing, pats. It's raining walnuts!

I feel a little bit of stress and re-read my flower bulbs order again. Is my order sufficiently balanced? Or should I again be guided by old folk wisdom and order some extra early tulips?
Walnut in tree
Walnut in the tree. 
Walnut
My walnut harvest. 
tulip in vase
Should I order more early tulips?

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Comments

  1. Hetty! We finally have a tree in common: walnut trees. So far, I have a couple that are doing quite well, and another two not so much. Tell me: how many years did your trees take to give you walnuts? I have read 20 years, but a farmer friend (who gave me the seedlings) said not that long.

    As far as the wisdom of your farmer friend goes, even if he is not correct, isn't it a wonderful excuse to buy more tulip bulbs?

    Saludos, Karen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You understand why I want to buy more and more bulbs! The tree is about30 years old. I can’t remember when the first walnuts appeared. I think for 15 years. Groetjes

      Delete
  2. Hmmm. Walnuts and tulip bulbs. An interesting pairing!
    Thanks for linking up at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2018/10/master-potter.html

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