How long 'til daffodils?

It is really hard to wait for spring. Do spring bulbs normally bloom in April or May in Southern New England?

There are ealy and late ones but mine bloom in April and this year in December!

Okay - so basically six more weeks . . . sigh . . .

Seandor, Are you zone 6 or 5 in Springfield?

Hey my dh suprised me with a potted tulips that he bought from The Lung Association. So it sort of is starting to feel like spring for me. They are already about 8 inches high. I can't wait to see them bloom!

Zone 6a apparently. We are definitely warmer than many of the towns in the area. We have the same climate basically as Hartford

You should see the first tiny Crocus soon after the snow melts. Look near foundations, walls any warm, south facing spot.
My neighbor pointed these out today. It's a start.
Andy P

Good! So I wonder what the calculus is for figuring the rate of snow melt? How many inches for each degree above freezing? I wonder if such a formula exists?

Because of the weird weather this winter (hardly any snow near the shoreline) I have croci and daffodils poking their heads out of the ground already. No doubt an ice storm will come along soon and finish them off.

I put in some mixed daffs that I got 'free w/ purchase' in the fall. I hope some are early bloomers, because all of mine are late ones. you'd think I'd catch on and plant some earlier ones, wouldn't you? actually, I planted some little species daffodils in my rock garden that should be early. I hope. I'm getting tired of seeing everybody else with daffs and waiting and waiting for mine.
of course, everything's still way under the snow here. I don't even see green where I have croci. and the snow blew off that spot.

This picture is from April 10th, last year.

The crocuses I planted in the fall and all the daffodils (hundreds) are all popping their heads up a few inches. The tiny daffodils, Tete a Tete, should be the first to bloom in about three or four weeks.

pirl, I really want to see pics of those hundreds of daffs. it's really one of my favorite flowers. I need to plant MORE. I'll add some every fall until I'm satisfied LOL

When we had the nice November and December weather I dug up two established (14 years) clumps and there were hundreds of them. One clump weighed in at over 50 pounds - yes, I brought out the digital scale (along with the digital camera) because I couldn't believe the mass of them. When I divided them I planted them in clumps of 36 everywhere I could find a spot.

I'll go find a photo - these thumbnails are just too small.

It weighed 52 pounds! This is just ONE clump.

Whoa! I'm impressed! I planted a bunch of daffodils last fall (I hope they survive this crazy winter). So do I wait 14 years, or divide them sooner? :-)

Pirl, I remember that discussion.
My Daffs don't do very well. They fizzle in a year or two, my Tulips go longer than that. I planted some pink Daffs last Fall, they are poking their nose out now. We'll see.
Andy P

Seandor - I'd seriously suggest dividing after four or five years. I certainly waited too long.

Andy - were yours in a wet spot? I planted some pink ones, too, in a few spots so we'll see how well they do.

Okay - so the front ones planted in 2003 don't have to be divided until 2008. And the backyard ones don't have to be divided until 2011. I'll put that in my calendar :-)

Pirl, my dwindling Daffs were scattered all over, in different growing conditions but mostly sunny & dry.
I remember digging up large clusters of Daffs at my folks house as a kid. Not 50# though, lol.
I have one left from the first planting about 19 years ago. It's in a shady sorta damp spot behind a now large Mountain Laurel. This is it, I guess it's really a Narcissus not a Daff.
Andy P

Seandor, Your need to divide will also depend on how close you planted them. I don't think they need to be divided as a matter of course but only if they get too crowded. This may seem redundant but there are many perennials that need to be divided even if they are not crowded. I don't think this is true of daffs. Pirl, would you agree?

You are so right, Dave. I do plant them close to get a big bang but if I were wiser I'd plant them further apart.

I sort of spread mine out - they are probably about 7 inches apart. I marked each one with a plastic knife (or fork). It looked like a planted a garden of picnic ware this fall :-)

You can wait until they begin to look overcrowded. It might be more than 5 years. Your plastic-ware will need to be thinned sooner.

You may be right about the plastic ware . . . let's hope that my plants actually thrive better than their markers :-)

Seandor - If you're really impatient for spring, you can extend your season a bit with careful selection of plants and where you put them. Some of the earliest spring bulbs include species crocus (as Sarahskeeper mentioned), iris reticulata, and snowdrops. I try to plant them in those warm pockets, like along south-facing masonry walls, where the snow will melt early, allowing the sun to warm the soil, so they often beat the daffodils by about 3 weeks. The early spring bulbs are pretty frost and snow hardy - if they come up and then it gets cold again, they will still bloom once it warms up again unless the flower was already fully open. Even up here in the frozen north, I sometimes have flowers in early April or late March. Erica carnea, winter blooming heath, is a lowgrowing shrub that will bloom even surrounded by snow. Witchhazels, Hamamelis intermedia, are large shrubs that will bloom on warmer winter days in southern New England, or in April this far north.

Babs

Thanks Babs - those are great solutions. I will have to get some of those early bulbs. I like crocus - but I understand some are earlier than others - so I will seek those out. I have never had snowdrops, but they seem to be very early.

Looking at the yard - the places that have shed snow the soonest happen to be in the middle of the lawn!

Or over the septic tank/cesspool!

Actually that would make sense - except we are on city sewer. The middle of the lawn gets the most sun. There are places under huge fir trees that are snow free - but they don't get enough sun for bulbs.

Try one little bag of crocuses - you might be very pleasantly surprised at how well they do. I've done it.

Where - under the trees or in the lawn?

Under the trees.

The daffodils are 6" high at work today. They haven't started growing at home yet - but I will take any daffodils that I can get.

Okay - early crocus under trees - I'll put my order in as soon as they become available :-)

I have some late blooming crocus in other parts of the yard - I suspect they will be very late this year.

Naturalize those extra early Crocus in the lawn, they will do fine. They will go through their entire cycle before you have to mow. Grape Hyacinth & Chionodoxa (Glory in the Snow) do well naturalized in the lawn, too.
Andy P

Those little cream colord ones are the extra early Crocus.

This is Chionodoxa in the very same spot 10 days before the creamy Crocus above.
Then that stump sprouted into a 7 foot Butterfly bush.
Andy P

Wow! Those are delightful! I am definitely getting myself some of those! Thank you so very much for the photos, Andy.

Cheers,
michaela

Here's more. They have naturalized over about 40 sq. ft. of my lawn.

Beautiful, Dave.

I started with 25 Chionodoxa about 18 years ago, there are many, many hundreds out there now.
Here is a short thread I started last Spring about them.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/605951/
Andy P