A Reminder..

[spuzzlightyear.livejournal.com]

Seeing that it's October now, does this still need to be done, given, I guess, the advances of horticulture?

Oh, and expect a few more gardening ads from me for the next few days :)

Comments

[keristars.livejournal.com]

There is something really weird about those tulips, but I can't place my finger on it. If it were a modern advert, I'd suggest that the photoshop clone tool had been used, and then each iteration tweaked just a bit. Ah! Maybe it looks like they were cut out and pasted on top of the grass photo? Or maybe they were originally a black and white photo that got overpainted...

I actually really like the ad, but there's something about those flowers that's odd.

[liadlaith.livejournal.com]

The contrast on them is really heightened, especially in comparison to the rest of the photo. The shadows are almost black in some parts, while the highlights are almost white.

[keristars.livejournal.com]

The greens are really different, too, but I dunno how natural it is.

But contrast differences! That must mean it's a cut-out, because I don't think it was possible in 1947 to have such precision in photos.

eta (wait, hold on, flower icon!)

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

it's a result of the printing process - to punch up the colour, they were given an extra hit of (I think) magenta, or a magenta-red. To do this a plate was made with just the tulips on it, and the registration was never quite perfect, so there's this weird area of overlap that looks like photoshop-gone-wrong. You should be able to see this more clearly if you magnify the edges of the tulips.

[tanwen.livejournal.com]

Speaking from a printing background I think you're right & that is some piss poor registration!

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

cool may I ask about your background? (my official training is type & print design)

[tanwen.livejournal.com]

I worked pre-press at a number of different shops, making proofs, burning plates, negatives. Old school stuff! :-) Big web presses & smaller sheet-fed ones too.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

From Sunset mag, October 1950 - I couldn't find the exact same ad but it's the same principle. They wanted the reds to be really RED so in addition to the usual CMYK plates they added an extra red plate - and it didn't register quite right, so you end up with the gap at the top and the over-print at the bottom.

[keristars.livejournal.com]

Oh, snazzy! Thanks so much for the example! I looked at the big version of spuzz's scan and couldn't really see that well, just a bit of overlap that was maybe just bad CMYK printing.

Do you think they did something similar with the blue-green stalks, or is that just what tulip stalks really look like? (I live too far into the tropics to have seen tulips in a garden.)

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

There are probably several things going on - the colour being deliberately messed with by the designer, artefacts of the printing technology, and oxidation of the paper and ink - unless you can get in close it's hard to tell what's going on.

Sooner or later I'll run across an instance of that ad - it ran for like 30 years, in numerous magazines.

[elementalv.livejournal.com]

To answer your question, bulbs get planted in the fall.

[whoseline_wlsc]

Pretty ad. I like the flowers.

[tudorlady.livejournal.com]

Definitely! They don't get into the ground by themselves, but once they're there, they'll bloom every year. I just put in 200 bulbs at my place - tulip and daffodil.

[annamaryse.livejournal.com]

.... as long as you don't live where prairie dogs, many raccoons, and deer abound! I planted that many bulbs one time and the first season was glorious but then there was never another bloom - the wild things love those bulbs, dug em all up and ate them like candy!

You'll be safe over the winter and for your first bloom, but definitely look into tricks like bags of hair and irish spring soap... beware beware!

[annamaryse.livejournal.com]

By any chance were you asking whether HOLLAND bulbs were the necessity that advances in horticulture might have rendered less of an essential?

Bulbs are still a major horticultural export of The Netherlands... based on tradition, reputation, quality, and the level of expertise invested in maintaining and developing their stock.

Whether Dutch bulbs are 'better' is perhaps a matter of prejudice over the substantive. There's still that matter of prestige. There are also some pretty darned awesome domestic varieties out there. I'd cast my vote to say it's a matter of taste... and luck... perhaps the one perfect shade you fall in love with will be Dutch.

Finally, photography and printing have come so far - none of us has to shut our eyes and piok blooms based on those scary and generally inaccurate old-school olor print processes.

Thanks for the scary tulips btw.. great post :)

[evilfoo.livejournal.com]

I think it can depend which zone you're in, but I believe that generally you plant bulbs in the fall.

I'm in zone 4, so who knows if the ones I planted last weekend will work out all right or not. With our relatively bad winters, shorter growing seasons and lots of rabbits, I'm crossing fingers that they'll last one year. Two years would be a miracle. :)

[vp19.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess when it comes to horticulture, it does rather advance her...at least compared to other strumpets. (I don't believe in that old saying, "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.")