Hyacinths

Check these early ones out - blooming this week

Very pretty, Steve.

I'm sorry, ;) I have to confess that seeing your name always makes me smile, makes me think of Steve Dallas. I know, different part of the state.... lol I miss Bloom County.

Thanks Moby :-)

Thanks Steve, for showing me a picture of spring!!

Dull grey, brown, and a covering of white stuff is all that is showing here.

Maxine

Thanks Maxine...here's another in the front from today I took after work...and this is just the tip of the iceberg!! Most of them are just starting to pop out. The back yard has fewer flowers but a lot more leaves popping up.

Oh i bet they smell wonderful--------------i can almost smell them!!!
thanks for sharing-i know spring will come!

Oh how pretty! We are all hungry for the first signs of spring. So far I only have a few daffys sticking up a couple of inches, no sign of anything else. Thanks, can we see more?

What a gorgeous flower bed, and what a gorgeous house! Lucky you to have things blooming already. Like Mary, we're still in the just poking up through the ground stage.

For the longest time after we moved here I couldn't figure out why some of the perennial plants would start putting out stems and leaves at this time of year. It was a harbinger of spring, I thought. Hoo hah!!! But, mysteriously the trees natural to this area didn't leaf out. Hmmmm....what did they know that the imported plants didn't? Well, duh...after a few years I figured out that we still have several weeks of frost and ugly weather before things start truly coming to life. So, think of us in more northern climes while you enjoy the greenery. 8-}

And keep posting pictures of spring, it gives us northerners hope!

Thanks Martha, Mary, Sharvis :-)

Here are some blue ones in the back yard :-)

And some tulips in front from a different angle

This one in its 3rd year in the same pot, with a bee in it.

Some Crocus

More Pink Hyacinths

Most of the daffodils are just getting started

That pic with all the tulips is an award winner!!

Save it for some photo contest!!

I enjoyed the pictures as well, and I'm from Calif. where every fruit tree is in flower, and it smells to good outside. But I can grow Daffodils here at all, we just arn't cold enough, but I've had Tulips come up for 30 years at least, I did not refrig. them ever, they even flower. Thanks for those great pictures. Crasulady2

Just beautiful, thank you. We got more snow today, well, it is officially winter so what do I expect?

Thanks KE6KAD, but I'll have to crop out my neighbor's garbage bin :-)

Interesting, Crasu - Tulips are the only ones I struggle with and generally consider annuals here, though about 20-30% of mine return and flower. Daffodils, on the other hand, do extremely well here, and multiply and return annually. Hyacinths generally return well here, too.

Mary,

We're not out of the wood yet, either. Last Valentine's Day we got 5" of snow here, and I'm sure there's an ice storm ahead for us before we're safe. I kind of miss the kind of snow you get, though, to be honest.

SteveFtWorth, what kind of tulips are those? They are beautiful!

Do your hyacinth act as annuals or perennials? I am in 7a, and I planted a collection of pastel hyacinth last fall and I really hope they perenniallize (if that is even a word).

Hi Annapolis,

Thank you...the tulips are Pink Impression and Apricot Impression. They're Darwin Hybrids and perennialize in areas with cold winters, though in my area, tulips are best treated as an annual. Some return for me, but they're not effortless in the South like they are for, say, my mom up in Illinois.

Hyacinths, on the other hand, do seem to do well here and do not require precooling/refrigeration, at least in north TX where I am. They seem to grow to be normal hight even if I plant them directly in the ground on receipt (I have tried it both ways). Most of mine in my raised bed in the back yard (I have probably 1500 of them) have returned for me, this being their third year. Most are just starting to bloom, and heaviest hyacinth bloom for me is in the first week of March. The second year the stalks seem to be somewhat looser and with fewer florets than the first year (but of normal height), though this seems to be true of Hyacinths everywhere and not because I am in the South. I have noticed that they do better in areas where the soil is on the dry side and well drained, and where they're planted deep. They'll rot if subjected to constant moisture, especially during summer.

You're far enough north that you shouldn't have any problem at all. Scott Kunst from Old House Gardens told me that hyacinths require a warmer rooting soil temperature than tulips, so the long cold period required for strong tulip rebloom doesn't seem to apply to hyacinths (they need cold, just not as long and not as pronounced). I have noticed when digging around in the garden that they start rooting here in October when the soil is still quite warm, and tulips are completely dormant still. I am glad I can grow them successfully here, since they're one of my favorite flowers. They don't have the perennializing power of daffodils or lilies, but they should come back for several years to come at least.

Thanks Steve!
I'm making a note in my garden journal to buy a bunch of Pink Impression and Apricot Impression in the fall.

Since this is my first year gardening in Maryland this should be an interesting year. When I was doing my fall bulb planting I noticed all sorts of bulbs already in the ground. I am still friends with the people who sold us the house and they said there are lots of lilies, irises and tulips but they just planted whatever was on sale at Home Depot without much plan or design. So Lord only knows what is going to pop up this spring! I'm excited to find out.

Your whole garden will be a surprise package, that sounds like fun. Take pictures, make diagrams, etc so you can remember what is where and be able to change things into some workable order (or in my case it is more like disorder)! And of course we want to see what comes up this year.

Yup! I can't wait.

Hey has anyone here used Terra Sorb? I was thinking of using it in my containers and window boxes so I don't have to water every 15 minutes in August.

Can anyone make any recommendations on any other products they have used to help cut down on watering? I don't want my bulbs to get mushy either.

Tulips in the back yard starting to open today

Daffodils in back yard starting to open up