Bizarro Weather - Whose bulbs are growing?

Many people have been posting about their bulbs growing early - some people have even said they're blooming! I wonder if this is continent-wide? I have Siberian Iris, Dutch Iris, Grape Hyacinth and Species Tulips leafing out of the earth. Anybody else have bulbs growing, and especially, blooming?

No bulbs blooming but the dwarf iris are up 2" and the daffodils have reached 4".
Some Forcynthia bloomed last month and I saw a virbinum blooming last week.
ROX

I have daffadils blooming right now.

Nothing blooming, but lots of stuff growing. Of course, we're getting zapped with a cold spell, so we'll have to see how that affects all the spring-bloomers come March/April. Tamara

I have daffys blooming now. Unfortunately we have a cold front moving in and it may zap them. But I have a question. Normally (as I have been told to do) I fertilize the daffys when they first come up and then after blooming. But what do I do now that they have come up in the middle of the winter? We still have a lot of cold weather ahead. I am in zone 6b - 7A

Forgot the picture.........

Wow, WS, they are actually blooming! We have all kinds of Irises poking up, before we had crocus and early daffs, nothing actually blooming but at least they're coming along in the right order.

xxx, Carrie

Crocuses, daffy down dillies, and hydrangas.

In January.

In the Blue Ridge Mts.

*shakes her head*

I haven't noticed anything of mine growing yet, thank goodness. But I worry every day. Supposed to leave tomorrow for DC for a conference and have been told the cherry blossoms are going strong.

Those cherry blossoms will probably get bitten tomorrow night. It's going to be cold enough to do that here, it's already down to freezing now.
Does anyone have an opinion or whether or not I should fertilize them as recommended after they bloom (in ordinary spring weather).

Some--but not all of the Ipheions are blooming. The leucojam (sp?) is about to start blooming; its big, full, and the foliage is lush. THe only daff's I do are the ones that perform well down here and they have lots of foliage but never bloom prior to Feb.

Redkarnelian - check out my recent thread (on this forum) called "daffodils blooming near Princeton, NJ." Ray

I have lots of foliage on my tulips and all my daylilies are putting up new growth.

My first Narcissus pseudonarcissus ("Lent Lily") bloomed today. They don't usually start till into February.

I have lots of N. Van Sion that are budded up, only one open at all.

I have irises with buds on them, and one just got done blooming.

well- I have to report my first (zone 5a) crocus bloomed last weekend..... March is the earliest I've ever seen them in the 20 years we've lived in New Hamphshire...this is indeed an unusual year.

We have had record highs over the weekend, in the high 80s. I have a couple of Amayrillias spiking. We have rather cool weather today & supposed to get down to 42 in the morning then warm back up. Crazy weather Lorine

The snow drops are out, but not any snow this winter, yet. Patti

I've got all kinds of things up, like hyacinths, of course, but also dutch iris, daffodils, snowdrops, and tulips! Yes, tulips! I've not seen those come up like this before.

Here's my first bloom of the season -- a Narcissus bulbocodium hybrid, sometimes called a hoop petticoat. This is in the same family as the ones from the catalogs, but those were bred to be pot plants and don't reliably bloom here the second year -- and they also bloom 4 months later.

Edited to add that these bloom as soon as the ground thaws and can take a lot of freezing weather. The flowers are hardy to 17 degrees that I know of, although they fold up like a datura in the cold and then unfurl when it's above freezing.

Suzy


This message was edited Jan 10, 2007 5:36 AM

I returned from a trip on 12/29 to find Early Sensation in bloom. The earliest it had bloomed in the 5 or so years I've had it was the first year it was planted and that was late January. Mostly it is late February and March that it blooms. I live in southern NJ about 5 miles from the ocean.

Suzy- that is a sweet narcissus- hmmm...are they available from somewhere??? 13 degrees here tonight- see-saw......

I've got narcissus 17 sisters about to bloom--faithfully guarded by their gargoyle. =)

And Ipheion 'Froyle Mill' just starting to bloom.

I have asiatic lilies putting up, Johnson hyb amaryllis, dutch iris, blooms on dwarf bearded iris, quince in full bloom, lycoris squamigera in leaf, Muscari 'Valerie Finnis' in bloom. This is a crazy winter.

We are pretty close to sea level here. I wonder if I should check on the state of the polar ice caps?

Umm, that last was tongue in cheek, folks. I think.

Beth

Turtle, someone from Georgia (not a gardener here), sent me some amaryllis bulbs that he divided from his yard. He didn't know what kind they were, but here's a picture of them. Are these the Johnson ones?

Lycoris is winter growing down here so its always in leaf and growing in the winter--not unusual there. I haven't seen anything way off season yet. It will be interesting to see if summer blooming bulbs bloom earlier--but they are usually day-length regulated here so maybe nothing there either.

bkaumle~

That's a Crinum you have there. Looks like maybe 'Ellen Bosanquet', very nice!

They're blooming now!!???

R.

It's a crinum???

No, that's a picture I saved when he posted it online some time ago. But he just now sent me the bulbs.

yes ma'am. Crinum.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/77859/index.html

Pretty too!

R

Well, that's very cool. I just potted them up, because he said I could. Good idea, or not? They're in my kitchen window right now.

That's OK. They're just going to need *lots* of sun so I would let them rest by hold off on the watering.

You could just let it sit in the pot (or out) in a coolish area and wait a bit later to start it.

A healthy bulb can be stored for months dry. I have some dry bulbs and dry potted bulbs at rest in the basement. The potted ones will start growing with just a touch of water regardless of the light, but I have no good exposure for them so I keep them dry. They just get floppy and loll about on whatever is close by and my windows are already a jungly mess.

R.

Well, I just potted them up a couple of days ago, so if you think it would be best to let them rest, I can do that, no problem.

sjms, Yes and no on the availability. I buy them from Tasmania (Australia). All it takes is money. LOL! If you want to know more, go ahead and dmail me.

Turtle, The asiatic lilies coming up this early will be a problem if you get frost between now and summer. The flowers are at the top of the foliage, and if it gets frosted, it will turn black and the baby buds (you can't see them, but they're there) will be toast. If you want them to flower this year, you'll have to keep piling leaves or something on top of them. The reason I say "keep piling leaves on" is because the leaves keep the soil and the temperature around them warmer, and they will keep growing and growing and growing, so you have to keep piling and piling and piling. This happened to me last year.

Suzy

It's really up to you, kbaumle. Depends on how big the bulb is. The bigger the bulb, the bigger the plant........

In the warmth with the moisture, they'll want to *grow* and will need lots of strong light, so if you have the space and some good light, starting them now will give them a jump on the season. Don't feed too much at first.

I just don't have the light *or* the space for starting a large Crinum bulb indoors. I have some small seedlings in the windows in 6" pots, and they're not a problem,since they're so small with tiny bulbs.

Since Crinums like it pretty warm and a long growing season, so starting it in the ground later (when the soil warms there) will cut the season down a bit. Starting it a coupla-few weeks before the last frost date would be a compromise between having it get out of hand indoors but still give it an extended season.

You're plant will be fine either way. Once it's outside, the older foliage may really flop down, but new foliage will be in response to the stronger light. You can cut away all the ratty-looking foliage.

Feed and water well in summer.

R.

I have narcissus with buds about to open.
Also have snow drops blooming and daffodils 6" tall. Even daylilies are up about 4". Iris never died back.

(Azaleas are also blooming.)

This is all 4-6 weeks early for my area.

Deb

I just notice some Vinca major and creeping phlox starting to bloom..........

Not right for this zone!

Thanks, raydio! I took them out of the pot, because we just don't have enough sunshine here right now to justify trying to get them going right now. I will start them inside early, though. I have lights in the basement, but no room for anymore anything! The brugmansias are just going crazy down there and shading everything else!

My neighbor had Dutch irises blooming in her front yard (east facing) in December, but mine are still dormant. My daffodils are up and budding, although my crocuses are only just starting to sprout.

We also have a few cherry and plum trees flowering around town, as hydrangea80 mentioned.

My morning glories and French marigolds were going strong until sometime November. Cold-tolerant pansies are still going strong and dianthus re-bloomed last week. This is nuts!

I didn't get to see any early cherry blossoms on my trip to DC :( - but every planter downtown had pansies (I expect from the previous fall) still blooming away and looking beautiful!