Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Tulipa clusiana

First blooms today on the pretty yellow and rust-red species tulip Tulipa clusiana. Most of these were eaten by squirrels a few years back. That prompted me to plant a lot of daffodils, as they are poisonous and the squirrels ignore them.

Of about 300 Tulipa bakeri bulbs we had, about 30 are left (see previous post), and most of the clusiana bulbs are gone, too, but a few clumps survive here and there around the garden. The brick red is on the outside of the petals. It's visible only before the flowers open or when they close up for the night. The interiors are yellow. This and bakeri have proven the most dependable of the species tulips  here in Northern California. I don't have a record of their first bloom last year, so can't add this one to my botanical calendar--until next year.