FIRST FLOWERS OF SPRING Post Your Pics!!

SS--

They are up--not saying they will bloom...there is another bunch like it in the same bed...

This bed is, kind of, protected from the W. winds as the house next to me
is not that far away. The bed is also near the foundation--and gets full sun all day.
I suppose all that works...It is almost like my house has different zones..
Front is cold--facing North. Back gets some sun, especially now that there are
no leaves on the trees.

I think in developments--like where i am--as well as downtown with all the buildings--
there can be a "micro climate of sorts. G.

Jeff---
I did not set out to get into "exotics"--it just happened through a few trades.
So--I have been growing these "exotics" since 2005 or so.
But--it has been educational--and no one in Baltimore, that I know of, has these plants.
Of course--half of DG'ers in this area now have all of them....
G.

Wouldn't you die to have this one??? One of the 2 Red Epis I have

Is that fake? It looks like a lawn ornament!

NO--Jeff...

Those are blooms on one of my two red Epis...The other is also pretty--but not like this..

I have had these since 2005, but it was not until 2010 that they actually bloomed..
Both of these grew huge and very heavy--to the point that i was afraid to
hang them on a ceiling hook in fear of it all coming down.

SO--both of these also now live, in whatever form, at the Arboretum.
Of course--I have new starts growing. I would NEVER totally give away something like this.

1&2--Here is a picture of the blooms on the other one... The plants are pretty ugly
--3--here are both Epis after blooming..The one on the right has the amazing blooms..
4-- and 5--The Epi with the awesome blooms...Yukky plant to look at...and HEAVY!!

Jeff--these are ALL in the Orchid Cactus category. If you want to see more--
there is an Orchid cactus Forum. It will blow you away....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/episetc/all/

Gita

They are truly beautiful blooms.

yes, they are beautiful, Gita!

Wow...it just looked too perfect to be real....very beautiful Gita!

Survey of yard today showed several shoots emerging where bulbs are planted. One spot, however, where I *don't* remember planting a bulb.

Any guesses? Is it a bulb I don't remember planting, or is it something else??

oh, the suspense!! :-D

Dutch hyacinth is my guess. They're pretty distinctive with the leaves around the bud, not flat like daffodils. And I think way to early for any lily.

Tommassinianus crocus busted open today. I'll try to get a picture

My guess is hyacinth.

well, I guess I did plant a bulb there after all! :-D Thanks, guys--I'm waiting in suspense now for my first bloom of the season!!

Yep, I agree Hyacinth.

Sally, would love to see a photo of your new crocus!

I really fear squirrels ate all my crocus bulbs. :-( Not a single shoot where I planted them...

Yikes! Squirrels ate all your crocus? That stinks. I had good luck with that this year. I planted over 300 bulbs last fall and I tamped down the soil over each and then sprinkled red pepper flakes and black pepper over each planting area. As far as I could tell I only got a single investigator but they did no damage. I know some people think it's mean to use such tactics but I'm not as concerned. We'll see how the daffs do at protecting the tulips from the rabbits. That was a little trick I learned from DonnaMack I think.

Pepper flakes! I'll have to try that next year!

Donnamack says that black pepper (fresh) works best. I'm going to keep that in mind!

Oops...I think I miss quoted DonnaMack. I just re-read the post and I'm not sure where the pepper flakes came from but they worked. Here is the post:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1329284/

There are a few tiny shoots peeking through the mulch where I planted the crocuses! yay!! Looks like the squirrels didn't get them all after all! :-)

Hooray for crocuses!

Chili pepper flakes haven't worked for me, but I've got a Costco bottle of black peppercorns to grind up. :)

happy for you Catmint!

Thanks, Sally and SSG! It's going to be fun to watch the slow metamorphosis of spring in my yard...

As promised
C. tomassinianus my very earliest. They dont last more than a couple days and they close up in clouds. But they are my first flower of spring in my mind. previous years pic was dated feb 25. These opened yesterday.

NIce Tommies? are they? Very beautiful :)

So I had to put down some more pepper flakes and black pepper when I got home from work because some squirrels have done some digging where crocus are as well as rabbits have eaten some of the crocus....grrr They would never get away with those shenanigans in the front yard.

So pretty, Sally--it has me believing in spring again! :-)

Adorable, Sally!

me too....Me too.....

This Crocus is also popping up here and there in my lawn near it.

I am guessing next will be some daffs and/or--the tall stemmed red primroses.

Today--I pruned back my 2 largest roses--cut back all the dead leaves from my
Hellebores--ans also from my large, old Ferns.

Felt good to do a little bit of something... G,

How about my second Clivia--which now has amazing blooms?
And--in a matter of days--ALL these buds will be open on the 5 bulbs of my Amaryllis.
Will post when they all pop--for sure....The stems are really tall--I have a peony ring
around them all in the big pot.

Mentioning once more that these bulbs in the BIG pot are over 10 years old.
I have to find some pictures of them. I think from, 2006 or so. But--I did not have a digital
camera that far back--and don't feel like looking through a ton of albums..
I have seen these same bulbs in my plant grouping inside for the winter...

I found one! --This is from 2005....

These Amaryllis are in the same pot as now--and, they look older than just planted...
So--maybe 12 years? maybe 15?

Beautiful blooms, Gita! Looking forward to seeing the amaryllis when they open!!

FINALLY! Just a few yellow crocus blooms. The purple ones will come up later. But YAY!!!!!

They're lovely, Typ! Amazing that some of you already have crocuses blooming, and I'm only just seeing the first shoots...

Just the first shoots here as well and rabbits have nipped them down so far they look like tiny golden buttons!

My tag has been washed away but I believe this a swap plant from happy, aconite maybe?

First one for me!

Nice Terp! I had terrible luck with those. I bought 25 from a mail order fall of '12 and only a few came up. The rabbits were quick to make short work of those though.

Thanks!

Well we definitely have a rabbit problem but I make sure they know that my yard is a last resort for food because there are lethal consequences.

Rabbits are definitely one of the big three for me (deer, voles, rabbits).

Very cute, Paul!

Rabbits are furry little jerks. Yeah, I said it.

They eat my anemone buds RIGHT before they are about to bloom. I discovered that they are (temporarily) terrified of plastic flamingos so I did leave my purple flamingo out a little too long last year intentionally. I'm thinking my neighbors will leave theirs out all year, as they still have a flamboyance of flamingos out front (I did, in fact, google it and that is what a group of flamingos is called).

Flamboyance of flamingos, that'll stink in my head!

The biggest concern for me is the rabbits eat low hanging branches of azaleas. If it is a new shoot they'll enjoy the entire thing otherwise they'll steak this years buds. I guess I should be thankful rabbits aren't bigger.

Wow! That sounds SO fancy - a flamboyance of flamingos!

Beautiful today (57 degrees) and I can spot uneaten crocuses! Need to get Blood Meal to keep the rabbits away from the other crocuses.

Hi pirl, good idea on the blood meal! I have used dog hair with success too. Pretty flamingo picture! :)

Thanks for that tidbit. I have a bag of hair from our Smitty and will give it a try.

UMD - very hard to keep the rabbits from eating new leaves. They attack lilies and strip entire stems unless I remember to use the blood meal on all lilies, everywhere. The one spot I usually forget has a dozen lilies that have never bloomed due to the rabbits. I should apply it there first and then work backwards to the others.

Blood meal is an interesting idea. Where is that sold?