Are your daffs and crocus starting to show green? (Part II)

Getting started here - peak bloom for me is usually the first two weeks of March, so I'm excited about that coming in just a few weeks!

This message was edited Feb 17, 2006 11:25 AM

wow look at those neat beds!

Thanks Vossner! Trust me they don't always look neat!

Perhaps it's those 80F+ days Tx has been having, they are lovely! Mine will be in flower soon, had a few days just a bit warmer, now forecast only 5-7 C for the next 10 days, but that is not unusual. 2 days ago it was 13C, 55F+. Got some more pics yesterday and today, the purple crocus are showing well, I have the odd C. tricolor, C. Snowbunting in bud about to open, and 1 tiny little bulb of C. Princess Beatrix in flower, on top of the soil with no roots!

First here is my Iris reticulata 'Pauline', she is a beauty

Crocus tricolor

Had a moment of not working,

Crocus Snowbunting

Poor little C. Princess Beatrix

Purples

This is only one of a mixture a bit different colour

Love the tricolor Crocus, Wallaby - all I have are lots of the yellow ones.

My other Cyclamen coum, this one is a bit lighter and different leaves. The sun was shining beautifully through the Rhododendron giving the desired 'dappled' effect.

SteveFtWorth, yellow is such a cheery colour for the beginning of spring, it is one of the yellows I truly love. Perhaps you will now get some more? Purples, whites, they all sparkle.

My patch with the C. tricolor, Snowbunting & Princess Beatrix desperately needs a revamp, it has been there a few years. There are lots of little ones though from seed, and it is difficult to dig them but probably necessary. Their 2nd year was a mass of colour.

Wallaby, I am big on daffodils and hyacinths since they seem to both do really well here and return. I don't think Cocus Vernus return here well for some reason, though all of the other varieties of Crocus seem to.

What sort of Hyacinths do you have? I have some H. Woodstck, love the deep colour.

Most hybrids are of C. vernus, mine do well. It is C. sieberi, which Tricolor is, that doesn't increase like others here, but mine is hanging on. Perhaps the species would do well for you, C. tommasinianus is supposed to increase well and does well in shade.

Mine are in places that get a good drying in summer, this I think helps them.

http://www.vanengelen.com/catview.cgi?_fn=Product&_category=Crocus

I am not sure that the yellow ones I have are - I thought they were "Yellow Mammoth", and they've come back in both the front and back yards for four years now. I have some cream colored ones too which have not bloomed yet. Last year I got a few Flower Records back but nothing like the year before.

I LOVE hyacinths. I have many kinds - Woodstocks from 3-4 years ago which still bloom every year but usually in March, as well as Delft Blue, Fondant (pink), Pink Pearl, Yellow Queen, and Carnegie and L'Innocence. I have Peter Stuyvesant, Blue Jacket and Sky jacket (light blue) as well. I have also for the past two years planted a variety called "Vuurbaak" i got from Old House Gardens that I just love - similar to Jan Bos but more "rose" in color. Oh and another I got from them is something called "Prinses Cristina" which is similar to Gypsy Queen but more golden. Most of those should be up in early March. I also have some Splendid Cornelias which have come up faithfully in January/February for four years now and this year ordered a new variety from VanEngelen called "Purple Voice"

Your crocuses are beautiful!

BTW Wallaby thanks for the link on the Crocus collections at Van Engelen - I may try some. they have so many to choose from!

Beautiful iris "Pauline" - love those purple specks and spots!

Steve, I really like the stonework around your trees - that is wonderfully finished looking, and I do hope you will treat us to pictures of your hyacinths when they bloom?

Thank you 2zues - the trees are finally getting a little height to them - they were just sticks about three years ago! Of course the stones give me an excuse to create yet another patch of dirt and grow another garden!!

Were a good two months away from seeing spring flowers up here in Minnesota. It's so wonderful seeing all these blooms from Wallaby and Steve. I was wondering when your lilies starte; April? Can't wait to see some lilies. I may just have to go out and buy a few pots of Easter Lilies when they're available. Think I'm suffering from separation anxiety!

Pauline is a real beauty.

Steve you do grow a lot of H's. One I have always had my tongue hanging out over is Pink Queen, but I don't seem to be able to find it now. The main one that had it here was de Jaeger's, I used to get their catalogue but they tend to repeat themselves, and you don't get a cat. if you don't order. I can't fing a web site either, and the main ordering time is Autumn. It is a very pale pink, and I thought it would go well with Woodstock, but they were both so expensive. I got a 7 pack from the local garden centre of Woodstock a couple of years ago, no post to pay either. PinkQueen was only available in the bigger sizes, generally for forcing or for showing. Oh well, get it or miss out!

I can still see grass in your garden, plenty of room yet!

beaker_ch, I have had some Pauline for a few years, it is thought to be a cross so perhaps hangs around a bit longer,

http://www.nccpg.com/gloucestershire/plantweek44e.html

the flower there is some I put in in Autumn 2004. The I. reticulata, should be planted 8" deep or it will split into several new bulbs and take 7 years to flower. They are mostly sold as a yearly replacement bulb. I have had some I reticulata flower for a few years too, some do better, others seem to disappear.

Lilies mostly start in late July to August, but the Madonna lily I think flowers early around Easter? I have yet to get one.

I feel for your separation anxiety! It is bad enough here, I must be grateful, say that 10 time to myself!

Hi beaker, my first lilies will bloom in April. May and June are the biggest lily months for me. Some go into July but even then it's the last Orientals. I had one lily - Black Beauty - bloom just into August - well if you don't include my Formosa lily which did bloom in August. The picture below is from last year but I got these Easter-lily looking things from Brent and Bcky several years ago and they keep getting better every year. Sometimes some of the Asiatics will bloom in April but most wait till May. I have about a dozen lily sprouts sticking out right now which I'll have to cover tonight since we're getting a hard freeze and maybe an ice storm.

Thanks Wallaby - you're right, hyacinths ARE expensive. I tend to like the bigger bulbs though - 16/17 cm at least, and 18/19 if I can get them - since they produce bigger flowers and seem to come back stronger in subsequent years. Van Engelen used to let you pick the size you wanted - but now you can only get the largest ones in their forcing collections and otherwise the standard is 16/17, which is still OK. Tulip World went down to 15/16 as standard and so I do not buy from them anymore. I found a new site, however, that seems to have fantastic hyacinth bulbs and offers them in three sizes - Wooden Shoe bulb farm. I will be ordering from them in the future. I love a lot of the specialty bulbs that Old House Gardens offers as well and I love their operation - quality ids great and service is top notch - but they are not cheap either. You should try any of the pinks with Woodstock - Fondant is a solid frosting-color and Pink Pearl is a little paler.

Thanks for the comments on the Iris reticulatas - I have never grown them but they're always so bright and seem to come up so early!

This message was edited Feb 17, 2006 5:55 PM

wallaby, your crocus are beautiful. I love Tricolor, and am so glad to see a real, undoctored pic of it. Snowbunting is lovely; I'm excited now-I planted some in fall!

Steve, those lilies are incredible! I'm a hyacinth fan to, and took advantage of the 1/2 price sales and ended up planting 25 Blue Jacket, 12 Gipsy Queen, 6 Kronos, 6 Pink Pearl, 6 Sky Jacket, 12 Woodstock, and 9 white that I can't remember the name of. Needless to say, I'm expecting a very happy nose in the next 6 weeks or so.

The only thing I don't like about living in this cool hollow, is my stuff always blooms 2 weeks after most of the county has blooms. A friend that lives just up the road (on a ridge top) aways has hyacinths 2 weeks before me. But, I am happy to report I saw the first bloom opening in my garden today!! It's a tiny snowdrop, not all the way open yet. And I don't even remember planting it there! I love the way I suprise myself, LOL.
Neal

Well Neal, I consider YOU the lucky one! It goes from cold/cool here to hot with not much in between. I planted four trees in my small back yard and another seeded itself near my fence and I'm leaving it alone to provide some shade for my yard. In July and August here you can just forget it for bulbs - so I'm envious of everyone else's stuff while mine is drying up! Oh, well I guess my Crape Myrtles and Hibiscus are out in full force in July and August but no lilies :-( Fortunately, March through May are nice months here.

Check out these yellow hyacinths from lat year - one of my favorite kinds. I agree about the hyacinths - I don't understand why they're not more popular - they smell great and come in the coolest colors, and perennialize much better for me than the tulips do.

This message was edited Feb 17, 2006 7:04 PM

Oooh, those look yummy! Makes me think of lemonaid. Is that Yellow Queen? Looks much nicer in your pic than City of Haarlem. Oh yeah, I planted 12 of those to!

Thanks Neal! Yes it is Yellow Queen - you'll have to take some pictures of your City of Haarlem since I have not grown that before. When do your hyacinths bloom?

Most hyacinths in this area are blooming in mid March, but mine bloom in April. The bulbs explode in April here. I plan on lots of pics to!

Neal, if your snowdrops are opening you can't be far behind, mine haven't been open for long. The tricolor is totally undoctored, just cropped, it is amazing when you bring it closer just how much better you see them. I am surprised it took well, the camera mostly does if the light is reasonable but I have that very light violet self set crocus on the last thread that will NOT be photographed. I haven't come across that before, the Iris reticulata can be difficult, I think it must be to do with some colour it is reflecting that the camera isn't designed to cope with, like ultra violet. I say colour 'reflecting' because the colours reflected are the ones we see (or is it the ones absorbed!)

Steve I think I am going to have to go for another pink, most I have seen are too dark, by the pics anyway. I have been looking at the dates on my lilies, Asiatic 20th June, Regale African Queen 22nd July, Oriental Marco Polo 7th August, Black beauty 12th August, Rubrum 7th Sept., Nepalense 17th July, Stargazer 1st August, Barbaresco 11th September, Casa Blanca 12th August, Everest 26th July, Cardiocrinum gigantuem 20th June, which was early, the other one flower year before in August I think.

Steve is that one a Lilium Regale? I have only seen pics of the white one, mostly they have darker reverses. Whatever it is beautiful! The Madonna lily here is supposed to flower much ealrier and is evergreen over winter, I think it is L. candidum.

Just for a laugh, here is one of the several attempts to photo that awkward crocus, you can see a baby cyclamen bulb with a stem on it in front, it must have been uprooted when clearing leaves, they don't really make many or any roots for a start

Fancy, what is that large glossy seed to the left of it?

Spring is afoot!
K James

The reddish black thing? That is a SMALL conker, or Horse Chestnut. It is probably rotten, if not it will grow. They tend to bury themselves.. I was stood in the greenhouse nearby once with the door open and one went flying past like a bouncing bomb.

I've heard of problems photographing certain blues and violets. Is that what is called the ageratum effect? I remember trying to get pics of periwinkle blue flowers that would always look mauve in the pic.

And it's interesting that your crocus and some other spring bulbs start blooming sooner, but your lilies bloom later. I guess that may have to do with our hot, Southern summers here.

gemini_sage, some blues/violets are difficult, the Iris Pauline only occasionally behaves, but the Crocus tricolor seems easy. That difficult, impossible little sweetie (teenager!) is not too far off the colour, perhaps a shade more violet than the pink but pale. It is the ways it fuzzes the flower completely, with a purple halo. I know some do end up with a purplish halo but not strongly like this. It is a Sony DSC V1, one of the best. I haven't heard of the term 'ageratum effect' or if I have I have forgotten! An interesting research project.

Crocus and many other bulbs I think will need a certain period of cold to bring them into flower, I'm not sure if it has to do with day length as well but suspect not. Remember they do go dormant in summer.

Why the lilies bloom later I'm not sure, that could be your hot summers, ours are mostly cool. Funny thing is my cardiocrinum that bloomed in 2004 bloomed much later, and it was a hot summer, whereas 2005 was very cool and that one bloomed early! But that is not a true lily, and dies leaving offsets.

The only wat that can be gauged is to compare two like varieties, the L. Black Beauty for Steve bloomed just into August, so did mine. That could , however, vary with different varieties. I think a lot of bulbs will bloom at the right time if the conditions suit what might have been their original natural habitats, or part of if a hybrid as various characteristics will be passed on.

I know someone who had a 'Black Beauty' blooming during the first frost last year. It had a dry beginning, thus a late start. Otherwise, I think hers go in late August/September, some are much earlier.
K. James

Wallaby, I am not sure what it is, but thanks for the nice words. I am terrible about labelling my bulbs when I plant them - and then I regret it when things start popping up and I can't identify them! I agree they do look very much like Regale - but I don't think mine have grown over 3 feet or so yet, and I thought Regale was taller. Also, mine have very thick stems and large leaves.

These are "Vuurbaak" from last year. I know they are a dark pink but probably the nicest I have seen.

Oh yes that is pretty! I like dark pink, it's just that I thought with Woodstock a pale shell pink would go well, maybe a dark one would look as good.

My Lilium African Queen I think grew to about 7'

Wow Wallaby I just planted 6 African Queens this past fall, for the first time - I hope they look as nice as yours do. Beautiful flowers you have.

I think I might have a picture of my Woodstocks with some lighter pinks - let me look ...

OK, not the best but here is an example....the light pink is either Lady Derby or Pink Pearl.....

This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 3:08 PM

It is only 26 degrees now at 3 pm, with freezing drizzle! Just two days ago it hit 83 - a record - and now a 57 degree temperature drop! I think the things I had already blooming are finished. Luckily that was just the tip of the iceberg!!

Dang, Steve, sorry to hear that. I think our last winter grapple has past- it is warm (45-50) and sunny, although windy here. I have crocus leafing every where.

Having been working outside, I have decided that the fall crocus just don't work where I have them. I've taken them out to give room to the nearby spring Crocus and heeled them off, but when they go dormant, I will give them away. There is a mix of C. speciosus, sativus, zonatus, and 'Conqueror.' Sound appealing to anyone with more patience than I? Like Wallaby says, dry period is good, but for these it is essential.

With things coming up, is anyone else thinking "I need more bulbs here... and there..."? -And making notes of rnext fall's orders?
K. James

Wow James I am jealous - you must be in the part of Colorado on the other side of the front! I see from the map I just copied it runs diagonally right through your state!!