Spring Bulbs Pictures & Discussion: Part IV

WELL wallaby - those are really beautiful - but too bad you have to lay on the ground in order to get a good shot of them since they're so downfacing! You take great pictures.

Thanks Steve, but I didn't really lay on the ground! I couldn't quite see what was on the camera view screen but it worked! I like to get a cat's eye view. I am really surprised at that one this year, its best it's been.

Andy, I'd like to know what the yellow crocus is, too! Mmmmmmmm!!

steve, berrygirl, OHG is a whole new world to me! can i afford it though? i am drooling....

i should report my bloomingbulb experience. brb. i've been so lazy.

janet, we want to see more of those hellebores! please =).

All I have is one from the top, but if you insist! It does show the purplish hue in the middle around the stem.

Wallaby, kbaumle. I wish I knew the name of this little guy. I got it as a bonus with a mail order many years ago, 5 bulbs. If there was a name it's long forgotten.
They are so small they hardly show. Most were transplanted a couple of years ago from a flower bed I was dismantling. I scattered them all over. Give them a few more years and they will carpet the yard. (Hopefully)
They bloom almost a month before any other spring bulb I have, often under the winter mulch. These were deliberately planted out in the open where I don't mulch.
Here is a pic of another pair.

I may have to try the hellebores, they are really nice.
Andy P

it must be true then that crocus is the harbinger of spring! really love yours, andy.

when i see hellebores locally, i'll get some. perhaps next time i visit the sonoma horticultural society.

My dracunculus Vulgaris (voodoo lily) is up already here in seattle !!!

Skill, are those divisions or seedlings? Nice.

Steve, what's the Golden tulip looking out of your back window? 'Daydream?' Wish your yard were larger? It's about time you relieved yourself of that parasite called turf.

So glad you rallied everyone to one thread, Annapet, it is a gallery to behold!

Berrygirl, I like your style. you must have read "Cubed foot gardening."

Wallaby, how long did your Helleborus take to bloom if you grew them from seed? I figure two good growing seasons minimum with "hybrid vigour," blooming the third year after a spring germination?

I was blown away when I saw $11 gallon Helleborus at Lowe's last spring. Blooming size, but only a few had flowers- and those were green w/ spots. I pray for the same next year- they also had some incredible Tree peonies.

kenton, everyone knew there are more blooms now, and the photos lured our entire group. i have some green hellebores, and when they bloom i'll tag them in case you still want some.

ah, i was going to say, "i'm suprised steve still has a LAWN..." lol.

berrygirl, i have some hollow blocks here that frame the beds, then i also plant bulbs and lilies to fill the holes. i've seen it done by zuzu (a rose maven friend), and i copied.

skilled, how big is that pot? love the spotted stalks.

You would pay £11 for a good sized hybrid here, that was cheap! the 'red shades' one I did get cheap though, it was in a 9cm pot but vigorous and quickly bulked up, only £2.

They take 3 years or 4 from seed, from collecting mid/ late summer and sowing they don't germinate until the winter, late December on. The seed has to be sown fresh or it goes dormant for years, and if kept wet it rots. I found it's best to be kept dryish until autumn. I tried to post another interesting pic twice, no go, slow, so will have to go to snooze, late again!

Thanks, Annapet, I tell myself I should have taken advantage and bought more than a few. Don't you care for green? It's understandable.
And thanks for the info, Wallaby, sleep well and dream of posies galore.
K. James

you're welcome. we both just have to wait for them to bloom though. oh, i love green, but they do grow and multiply so why not share. lol.

i better find out how to care for them...

I think this might be Jeanne D'Arc. Alot of my crocus have been weather beaten by snow and very prolonged cold temperatures so this was taken a couple of weeks ago. Nice hellebores Wallaby - I have alot of them too and have had seedlings flower for the first time this year. They certainly withstand this weather well.

Iris George - again when the sun was out!

Dashing!

Spectacular picture, and flower!

George is georgeous! What camera do you have Galanth.? Your white crocus looks different to mine, and I was also guessing mine was Jeanne d'arc. Mine has purple striping from the stem, I guess we'd better do some research! I bought mine as a 'pick & mix', a bag for £4 I think, just 'blue', 'white' etc, but the stripey one I would think is Pickwick, and Jeanne d'arc is the one we know being white! Yes I also like to know the names of my bulbs, as Kenton says the frustation of not knowing!

That spotty seedling hellebore is in its 2nd year flowering but is slow, not as good as the previous year. I think if they don't flower they put more effort into the plant.

This is the pic I was trying to post last night and kept me up a good deal later! Queen of the Night, note the rainbow from the sun glare from just behind the tree reflecting from the lens, and the rainbow image of the sun. Rather unusual!

hi, ann. we all agree, gorgeous flowers and shots. i love playing with natural light, too.

unfortunately for me, same old stuff from the garden this morning - - - because i planted a MIX =(.

janet, very pretty. now i feel like painting. i haven't touched my watercolors in months...

Mg such a pretty 'unfortunate' mix! Just think, if you hadn't planted them you might never have found such beauties waiting to please!

Have you been inspired to paint a masterpiece?

thanks, janet. you're right, surprises are good. here's an odd one with a busy center. not sure if it's supposed to bloom more, but i picked it before it gets tattered by another storm.

masterpiece, not yet, though in august 2005 i finished a light sketch of a macro wild iris 25" x 40" then my 17-month old nephew died, and i haven't painted since. i'm trying to listen to my heart, and i think painting will come again.

ALL the photos here inspire. thanks for sharing them.

See I don't grow everything in blocks- lol!

and some more....

Anyone know the cultivar of these little purple hyacinths? They smell sooo good.

another view.....

Thanks for looking and any help you can give.

Almost looks like an old southern Roman hyacinth. They have slender flowers and slender spikes like that

Mg that is so sad, the death of a child, and one so close to you and so young has to have an affect on you. Your associaton with your sketch is understandable, perhaps you can find the heart again, and do it in his honour. That would be a wonderful way of keeping his memory alive. Trying to overcome the first hurdle will be the hardest part, his parents must be suffering terribly too.

berrygirl you have a lovely outlook there, when your bulbs increase you will have a fantastic display under your window!

Steve,
I was reasearching them yesterday in the PlantFiles and saw the Roman. I thought that's what they might be. THANKS for the confirmation! When they finish blooming, I'm gonna plant them near my daffs.


This morning while on my way to church, I spotted some purple hyacinths on the side of the road growing wild. It's at the site of an old abandoned "home place", as we say in GA. There are a TON of daffs there too but I'm afraid I'd get caught trying to dig them all up- hee hee. I know there will be construction there in the near future for subdivisions and I hate to see them destroyed.
They are now in a bucket of water here at my house 'til I can get them planted tomorrow. LOL!!!!

Well thanks, Moonglow - and I think you'll like OHG - yes they are expensive but their bulbs are great and they have the best service and response anywhere. Plus it's nice to be able to send them a note asking for gardening advice and you quickly get a detailed and personal response!

James I cannot remember what the variety is - I think its is Orange Lion, but you're right is has golden hues and is one of the prettest tulips I have ever seen.

Well I think I have solved the white cocus mystery. Google first brought up DG, and the first pic I saw had no purple streaks. I looked at Todd Bolands and here is your answer

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/39536/

On these grounds I dub mine Jeanne d'arc. the other may be Snowstorm.

Steve I was also very impressed with those tulips, quite unusual colour in a tulip, I don't think I have seen it before.

Hellebore, 1st year in bloom!!

Anyone know this Hellebore variety?

Hyacinthus, "Woodstock" beginning to flower.

Iris histrioides, "George"

Janet and Annapet, those are such beatiful shots!

Annapet, I understand creative shut down after tragic events. After my niece, her husband and son were hit by a drunk driver (she survived, but was in a coma till after her husband and son's funerals), I stopped all my creative work and gardening for some time. Did'nt even realize it till much after the fact. Time does heal, and as you said, your heart knows when it's time.

berrygirl, you're making me really excited to see my daffs!
Shirley, I'm so loving the white and green hellebores; lovely!

Ok, I finally at least have pics of green sprouts and some buds. But it's getting really exciting because now I'm seeing defined clumps and know what's to come. This is an overview of part 1 and 2 of the garden looking out from the front of the house. A little fuzzy, but the clumps of daffs and tulips show.

Shirley nice pics! The white H. niger has gold filaments I am sure, it is possibly a H. orientalis hybrid.

http://hellebores.co.nz/orientalis/white.htm

Woodstock went in to my garden last fall to, but yours are further along. Well, even here in town everybody elses are further along to. The price I pay for living in "the holler". I can at least see the buds of these hyacinths, I think Blue Jacket.

Oh wow a woodland garden! I can see the definite clumps, just picturing it all in full bloom, well worth the wait! Won't be long now, hurry up we want to see them!

This part of the garden is by the creek, and just got started last year, so I'm quite excited about it. There are clumps of muscari, primula, and daffs around the tree.