Spring Bulbs are up and blooming

Happy first day of Spring, everyone!!! This is the first of my Dutch irises to bloom - and just in time to herald in spring.

They look great! I love the colors.

Beautiful. I love the blooms on Dutch Iris.

They are not hardy here, but my husband always gives them to me in bouquets, because he knows how much I like them. Yours are gorgeous.

Donna

Thanks, everyone. Donna - it's too bad that they are not hardy for you - they are wonderful plants.

Some other bulbs in blooms are the green goddess calla lily. This one sends up a bloom or two since December, but is more prolific now. This is the second year for this patch.

a close-up

I bought this Tulbaghia fragrans for it's winter bloom. In zone 9, they start blooming around late October and into March/April. The three days of freeze in December turned them into mush, but now it is bouncing back. It has a nice, slight, fragrance. Not at all smelly like the Society garlic - this is an entirely different plant.

And my all time favorite spring bloom - freesias. I was lucky to come across some robust ones - these grow to about 2 feet. It is growing amidst my now dormant autumn joy and asters - the old stalks help support the freesias. The fragrance in the backyard is heavenly.

Right about now I'm wishing I lived in Sacramento or someplace else in the 9a zone.

I've just got reticulated dwarf iris and crocus in bloom with lots of tulips producing leaves. Also producing leaves are fritillaria (never grew them before), hyacinth (you can see the buds) and perennial plants such as centauria, clematis and dicentra. Rosebushes are showing lots of spring growth.

Soils, the freesia are gorgeous. I've never had good luck with them from bulbs.

Has anyone had luck with anemone corms (blanda or coronaria)? I've tried to plant these (soaked them overnight) in the fall off and on for severarl years, and every time they just turn to mush in the ground. Any advice?

One small bulb that always works for me is grape hyacinth. My little blooms are popping up. They look cute in front of the daffodils. Does anyone know if grape hyacinth will still bloom if you give them a haircut in Jan. or Feb.? Those long leaves just look messy sometimes. I recieved some yellow and purple flowering muscari bulbs as a gift and am eager to see what they do. Planted them a bit late, so no flowers yet.

I already have some buds on my bearded iris. Not sure if it's Alcazar (purple bearded iris that smells like rootbeer) that's budding out or the white iris that came with the house.

The lillies, peonies, coneflowers, Spanish bluebells, David phlox, daylillies and false indigo are just starting to break ground as well. Now if the weather would warm up and STAY warm. I'm ready for the "out like a lamb" part of March.

Nice batch of color on those freesias.I have never tried growing them myself but your picture makes me want to try.

Cathy - come on over any time. Low 70's all this week. We do get pretty hot in the summer though. LoL

Thanks, Rita. Freesias are hardy only in zones 9-10. So they will have to be indoor or greenhouse plants for you.

Ladybug - I've only tried growing the blanda anenomes only once. From a small patch, only one plant survived. It comes back every year, but I only get a few blooms from it and it has never multiplied.

Here is a shot of my front bed that is coming alive. I don't grow tulips as a rule because it doesn't get cold enough here for them to rebloom. Gardeners here treat them like annuals and replant every year. I am too lazy for that, but one year, I did plant some tulips on a whim and this particular patch has come back every year for the past 10 years. In front is some red ranunculus, with a few thalias peeking through. I revamped this bed last fall - The red ranunculus and thalias are in their first year - so hopefully everything should at least double by next year.

Here is one of my established thalia patches. I started out with about 10 bulbs years ago, and I have transplanted them to many different patches throughout the yard.

They look a bit like delicate daffodils from the photo. Very pretty. I think you must invite them in, and they like you (and your soil) so much, they keep coming back.

I love the ranunculus. They just don't want to be part of our garden here. I've only grown the anemone de caen. Soaked them for about 24 hours (forgot to take them out earlier), planted in a window box, and they bloomed. One even rebloomed into the cold winter weather. The blooms lasted a few days.

Here's the rebloomer:

Soils, love your thalia. I'll have to see if it will grow here. Think I'm giving up on anemone blanda and coronaris as well as ranunculus. (Though Cathy's flower is beautiful.) I did purchase some anemone sylestris (snowdrop anemone) last week; it should work well. Planting it this weekend.