Two years into a pandemic and my house has been hit with the ’Rona for the first time — I’m still in the negative, but the other two notsomuch.

My weekend activity options were thereby limited, but (masked) I was able to check out one of the things I wanted to do: the annual Bulb Show at the Berkshire Botanical Garden.

The BBG houses an evolving collection of spring flowering bulbs native to New England, including several types of narcissus, tulips, and daffodils. It shows them off as sort of a pre-season event each year in the Fitzpatrick Conservatory, a greenhouse often reserved for non-indigenous plants and those that need a climate-controlled environment, like cacti.

This year, the show also introduced several new hardies, including pink and orange Salmon Gem tulips, dwarf irises adorably named Harmony and Pauline, and a plant I learned about for the first time today: frittilaria, which sounds like a brunch item but is actually flowering bulb-plant that blooms in red, purple, checkered green, white, or black. They’re also known as Guinea Hen Flowers.

Perhaps the star of the show, though, is Vincent Van Gogh: a deep-purple tulip with feathery petals and octopussian stems. I went digging and, according to dutchgrown.com, the Vincent Van Gogh tulip was first named in 2011 by then-director of the Van Gogh Museum Axel Rüger.

I made a final stop post-show at the BBG’s Rain Garden, which was looking particularly splendid and useful on a damp afternoon. The Rain Garden was designed specifically as a “living filter,” treating surface water runoff from the parking lot through plants and shrubs that complete the task naturally. On a dry day, this garden is often overlooked.

More Images from the

2022 Spring Bulb Show

And finally, Check out photo-journalist Stephanie Zollshan’s photo spread at the Berkshire Eagle.