Nancy and Mark Allen have lived in the Tudor-style home on the southeast corner of Pershing Place at Euclid since 1981. When they purchased the house from Robert "Parker" Burns, Jr., they learned that the tulip beds in the front yard had been featured in a 1950's article in Better Homes & Gardens.
Mark Allen embraced that tradition and has continued tending the garden ever since. In the process, he has treated the neighborhood to a rotating display of spring and summer blooms. He estimates that over the years he has planted thousands of tulip and daffodil bulbs.
The bed that borders Euclid, shown above, is filled with white tulips and just a few purple ones mixed in, not exactly how it was planned—i.e. the purple variety didn't bloom as vigorously this Spring. Allen has learned that it's difficult to get a second season out of tulip bulbs; they need to be planted every year. That isn't the case with a "naturalizing" variety of daffodils that continue to spread into bigger and bigger clumps until Allen divides them about every three years. All of the bulbs are fertilized when planted.
Gorgeous sherbet-colored tulips are planted in an eye-catching row in the front yard, above. Spring bulbs will be followed by irises, Asiatic lilies, and day lilies. Lots of work for Mark Allen, but a visual delight for all to enjoy as we walk along Euclid.