Spring Bulbs - pictures & discussion: Part VI

Janet, most people seem dissapointed in this variety. I got some, yet to see blooms.

They hang down so to get a front on it's a slugs eye view.

yes Nery, they are dreadful! And they disappear mostly, the pictures they show are not real.

wallaby ~ sorry, no names. They were given to me by a sweet little old lady several years ago.

I didn't know any names until 5 years ago and found out about internet trading. Then you have to keep up with names.

Happy Easter, everyone!

I found the double one, i think it's Irene Copeland.

http://www.oldhousegardens.com/bulb.asp?Cat=DA&page=4

There is always some new flowers to be seen on this thread, love it.
Here is an oldy but a goody.
My first Muscari, in a hot spot. Most others need a few more days.
Pic was taken an hour ago.
Andy P

DO your muscari self-seed Andy? Mine are all over the front of my property. I try to avoid the folliage when I
mow but with only one arm & leg, its tough. LOL

On the double blood root - I don't know! I THINK I bought it a number of years ago from Roots & Shoots but
I'm not positive. I love them too and went to buy more and realized they were really expensive. I'm planning
to divide mine and get more doing elsewhere on the property. I just love the singles too - they grow along the
road here where there's shady rocky areas. Just gorgeous.

Tam

edited just to clean up formatting.

This message was edited Apr 14, 2006 6:14 PM

Tam, Yes the Muscari self-seed. Little black seed that's easy to gather and spread around.
The ones pictured were transplants from 3 years ago.
Here they are again with the Hens and Chicks in the foreground.
Andy P

Glorious and double Fancy! Everyone's photographs are just lovely.

Bluegrass, are you sure that is 'Ice Follies?'

I have had good luck, good fragrance, and good returns with 'Replete' in my neck o' the woods. They lasted well this year. I have pictures for when I'm not dog-tired.

Happy Belated, Nery.

Kenton

Well, I did buy them from Lowes so it may be wrong. Ice Follies was on the bag.
What do you think they might be? I will check PFs.

The picture is ringing a bell. I have seen it before but no name comes to.
'Ice Follies' is flat-cupped with ruffles. Opening yellow, fading to white. Long lasting and reliable.

bluegrass~

I love your creeping phlox! Gorgeous!

Your little narcissus looks like either a triandrus or a cyclamineus Possibly 'Jack Snipe'

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/78353/

Perianth width would be good to know. Isn't 'Jack Snipe' fairly small?

Tulipa 'Flowerdale' and Muscari latifolium.

Red Riding Hood.

T. clusiana chrysantha

Gavota

Frit. meleagris threatens to bloom.

Dracunculus stem.

Gavota.
This is an old, neglected bulb.
That's all for now,
Kenton

Kenton I also have Gavota, they are coming into bud now and look a bit pathetic, in a poor spot that needs some food, mulch, but campanula mixture are there also and they seem to like it, and makes it difficult to mulch.

My Dracunculus has unfurling leaves, and the stem is getting a stronger blotch. it also has a small bulb growing at the side of it. Will get a pic later.


I saw some JacK Snipe growing in pots yesterday at the garden centre, they are quite small and cups are short compared to the perianth. I also saw tulip red Riding Hood, and they were cream with broad red stripes and a dark centre, they are red are they not? I should have bought some! They had large pots of frit. Aurora and lutea, some with 2 stems and flower heads for only £4.95 (x1.75$). I was tempted, but found a Dianella tasmanica for £6 instead, a large plant with 5 flower stems. They are bred for variety, some had a broader, greener red flushed leaf, the one I got has blue/grey narrow leaves. The flowers are said to be blue/grey, and make metallic blue berries. A plant I had wanted!

Took this yesterday

The orange scarlet is so vivid a contrast

The lot of them

I feel a case of tulip envy coming on!! We live in coastal Northern CA and it just doesn't get cold enough here for them to return. Oh, well, we do have other compensations, as you can see from the following photos. First, the classic big white callas. I searched for a recent photo of mine because they're in full bloom, but all I have is long-distance shots. In this bed the iris had already bloomed during a brief warm spell in early Feb so it will be couple of months before it blooms again. A shame because dark purple iris and white callas are a stunning combination together!

I love the colored callas but haven't had much success in getting them to return well. I have high hopes for this 'Flame' however, as I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.

In the San Francisco Bay Area freesias are a perfect bulb. I'm surprised more people don't grow them, although they do flop if not supported by a friendly groundcover. The yellow seem much more vigorous than the other colors, which I buy and plant every spring, hoping to increase my bouquet yield. But the yellows are stronger and more trouble-free than the other colors, particularly the purple-blue which hardly ever returns for me.

I do have irises in bloom, they're just not blooming near the white callas - stubborn little things, LOL! These are an unknown dark purple bearded iris variety. I was given 200 rhizomes for free, and understood why when six months later I was already dividing some of the clumps. There's little perfume, but they are incredibly vigorous and rebloom two or three times a year. And the foliage, which is evergreen, is a wonderful accent throughout the garden with its blue-green color.

I love the Bloomingdale hybrid ranunculus -- gorgeous bicolors and ruffle-y petals remind me of old roses, which are difficult to grow here (too cool from the fog, so they don't open properly). The strong stems stand up to our windy winter storms, too, something the more fragile poppies can't do.

Peruvian squill hit our markets a couple of years ago and I picked up a couple of pots. Put them in the ground afterwards, but last year they didn't do much. I don't know if that's because they needed to establish themselves, or more likely it was because my other plants are so big they just couldn't get enough sun to grow well. So I was surprised when this one clump actually threw out half a dozen flowers this year! We have had a lot of rain this winter, much more than last year, so that could be a factor as well.

And here is the most widely sown bulb in Northern CA -- except it's a weed! An incredibly pernicious weed, in fact -- Oxalis pes-caprae. It is beautiful, but I have to pull as much out as I can, because it will, like the gorgeous orange California poppies, happily smother any neighboring plant it can overpower. But it turns vacant lots into sunny-flowered gardens, every year, so we admire it when it blooms, EXCEPT in our own garden beds!

This message was edited Apr 15, 2006 9:09 AM

great pics everyone.
thanks, kenton.
jkom, that Flame is gorgeous. I bought it on ebay, wonder if I will see blooms this season. can you believe that my calla Green Goddess is still blooming? It has never stopped since it started in Jan. I'm hoping Flame, Picasso, a NOID yellow and a NOID pink will perform the same in years to come.

edited to aded:

NOID, the people in the AV forum use it all the time. I love it. stands for No ID (no name).

This message was edited Apr 15, 2006 11:42 AM

I love your oxalis, jkom51......lilies are starting for me now!

My first Tulip. A short, small one that starts the show in my yard.
Andy P

Wallaby; I'll bet that those "Red Riding Hood"s were in fact a different T. greigii.
Excellent praestans unicums, I have green eyes. What is the palm that they border?

Jkom 51, you are a most exceptioanl addition to this thread. Are you experiencing cooler weather? At least, not hot days?

Nery: My old 'Picasso' is showing sprouts right now, I hope I have an eye big enough to bloom. I need to plant the rest of my Zants... Along with Noid, I just learned a good one for "unknown" plants: "Unk." It suggests positive connotations?

Andy, is that Lily an asiatic or an LA? The LAs bloom first here, the OTs last.

Kenton

Kenton that is my T fortuneii! Guess what ? I have a further 10/10 germinated within 12 days!

Well all, I went to my friend's house with my camera. I am going to make a CD of all of the pictures I've taken over there, as she has not been able to always enjoy her handiwork and talent.

Walking down her front Steps...

Front "yard."
Her neighbor (with the house shown) has decided to not grow any turfgrass either and is starting a herb garden around the place.

Wow, I have been loving this thread!

I finally took a few more photos today, but the lighting was iffy on most of them... I'll have to get back out with the camera and get some better shots in the sunshine!

My apologies... Most of these are named varieties, but tonight I have forgotten their names (that's what happens when I plant without labels!)... I will look it up and edit to put names in later!

These daffs are planted along the driveway... The blooms hang downward, but since the driveway is on a pretty steep incline, the colors show off really well when you're looking up at them from the sidewalk below!

Edited to add variety name: This one is 'Flower Record', from Wayside Gardens 2004.

This message was edited Apr 16, 2006 1:50 PM

I like the edge on that, Jill. I will be interested in the name.

More bulbs: