Daffodil, Tulip, Crocus and Frittilaria all got a (well-deserved) thread, but there are so many other spring bulbs that deserve our attention.
I'll start with my favourite ones;
I stand in awe when these start to open even though they are tiny, the blue flowing over into white in its heart is so heavenly, they are very dear to me!
Chionodoxa luciliae ;
closer-by;
This one is another I love very much too;
Corydalis flexuosa (I think 'China Blue').
I have it for about 6 years now and it proved to be very strong and reliable. This one is planted in a container on my upstairs terrace on a half-shady corner. But this year it performs exceptionally!
I have others planted in the garden that also start to bloom.
Closer by;
The flower is so original and fascinating!
and then the lovely Leucojum aestivum, planted on the border of my pond;
Nice pictures!! I will post some tonight. I am now off to look up Corydalis flexuosa. I think I need it!!
Beautiful heart it has!
Not one that looks like it would do well here. I shall enjoy yours for now!!
Thanks marie, please do!
Ahh... and I cannot wait for this one to open, but its already so fascinating and mysterious. I absolutely love this one. It's in its third year now, hasn't increased but got larger. I had some others I lost, but this one I think I found the right spot for it.
Trillium sessile;
Oh, I'm always so slow, we cross-posted. I meant please do post your pictures, lol!
Just love your pictures, bonitin- Isn't the Leucojum so dainty. I just grow Gravetye giant.. which is later.. Though I still have snow cover here, so it will be a while. The blue corydalis is gorgeous too. Sarah
Lol I wish I could grow trilliums! Please be sure an post as soon as it opens!!
More pictures please!!
Thanks Sarah, please post your pics when yours start to bloom.
I'm afraid I have no more pics for tonight Marie,lol!
And I dread that I will be away the whole day tomorrow, so cannot take any new ones..
Your Corydalis flexuosa has done very well bonitin! Mine isn't flowering yet, but when I had grown many of them and put them in the raised hosta bed they did very well. They disappeared from there as the hostas swamped them and they rotted when dormant, but if you find a good spot for them they will flower for 3 months as make a mass of foliage over winter.
The Leucojum is pretty, not one I have, nor Chionodoxa, both are lovely.
Today I took a pic of my Trillium kurabayashi, I think in it's 3rd flowering from when I got it. It had 3 stems first time, then 2 stems after but the hot year of 2006 I think stressed it as well as long dry spells since.
Side view
I have a few Ipheion uniflorum Wisley Blue open, they are slow this year.
Today I noticed some bluebells open next to the tree, they were already here and have multiplied well. I think I may have both Scilla hispanica as well as the English Bluebell, I did plant some S. hispanica nearby but there's one near it that is the Spanish one which has either set seed from the others or was already there.
Here's the difference,
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Publications/pubs/garden1003/newsgeneral.htm
This looks like Hyacinthoides non-scripta with cream anthers.
The other one with blue anthers,
Anemone blanda.
exquite picture of the trillium (the 2nd pic, esp.) wallaby, the way the light catches the tip of the flower.
That was supposed to be exquisite
This message was edited Mar 31, 2008 10:05 PM
Hi, boniton,
Wonderful idea to start a thread for the lesser known bulbs.
Your little blue flowers are exquisite. I wish I had some in our garden!
And, Wallaby, as always, your little blue bulbs are so interesting!
Thanks for posting the pics!
I agree it is great idea for a thread. I love Leucojum aestivum but have not had it appear.
Here are some reticulated iris blooming now. More to come. I love the minor bulbs. Patti
top row 'Harmony', 'J.S. Dijt',
second row 'Purple Gem' and 'Clairette' Patti
Very nice pictures and thread, bonitin...and yours as well, wallaby. I have tried Chionodoxa but they never took off for me. Maybe I got a bad batch :-( Yours are beautiful.
Now I cannot remember the name of this one but then again I do not know the names of most of my bulbs.
another in the same family.
Glad
Thank you all!
Trillium kurabayashi is gorgeous, Wallaby! The deep wine red is so nicely set off by the grayish green patterned leaf. I'll have to look for that one...Just a pity they disappear later on in the season.
Ipheion uniflorum Wisley blue is very pretty. I just have the specie, also beautiful but mine haven't started yet, but I saw some buds appearing.
My bluebells, are very late this year. They are only in the stage that I can see the buds at the bottom inside the foliage. I have two types, one I think is the Hyacinthoides non-scripta and a type with much broader foliage, maybe the spanish type.
But after reading the description in the Horticultural society site I'll have to study them closer, once they bloom.
I like both of yours.
And the lovely Anemone blanda. I had a couple in the past, then lost them, but bought another a couple of weeks ago. I gave it a spot I think it will like, where it gets a couple of hours sun in the morning.
Your Iris reticulatas are all very pretty Patti, I only have one type, don't know its name. I bought them blooming in a pot last year, thinking they would not return the next year, because I had no luck with them in the past, so it was a surprise when they came back I had all forgotten about it.
They bloomed very early, my pic. dates from 17th January.
Marie - I believe your unknowns are Calochortus, western natives.
Wow Marie these are very special. I have no idea what they could be, but perhaps some type of Iris or related to the family. They look tropical.
Your Gladiolus has lovely subtle colours.
One I definitely want to try again is Anemonella thalictroides.
It is quite picky but I dont want to give up on it.
These are pics from 2 years ago.
I love the purety of the flower;
Thank you all, it helps when the sun decides to shine!
Lovely Iris Patti!
Marie, your first two are another South African bulb, the first is Moraea villosa, second I recognise but there's a lot of them. They are very pretty and I finally bought 3 bulbs to 'experiment' with last year but they were 'empty' and didn't grow, they have a fibrous outer. I have a few seedlings of M. tulbaghensis (silverhillseeds.co.za) which took a year to germinate, so knowing they will grow and survive the winter in a greenhouse, and if I ever find space amongst all the gladiolus species, they are next on my list, lol!
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/MoraeaSpeciesTen#villosa
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Moraea
bonitin, Anemonella thalictroides is very dainty and pretty, nice capture with the water droplets! I think it's time I grew some of those, they won't need a lot of space, lol.
Wallaby1 Yes moraeas. I did plant some Calochortus but not sure any of those are going to show themselves I have one flower that is unknown that could possible be one and I will post that picture this evening.. Mine are outside and in the ground. They survived the winter and will have the dry summer they need.
That is a glad from Africa also. I planted quite a few rarer bulbs last fall and took a big chance putting them in the ground but I kill everything in a pot. The problem is I lost the paper where I wrote down what was planted ( my first try at being organized and I failed at it)
I love that Anemonella thalictroides. You take some awesome pictures.
Scilla peruviana
Chris
Nice Chris!! How cold do you get in the winter?
Marie, During a typical winter we get some nights down around 28 F although low to mid 30s is more common. In a rare winter (every 5-10 yrs) we get down around 20 F. That's when we get lots of damage.
Here's Hyacinthoides hispanica Excelsior. These perennialize and multiply very well for me, when the tunnelling rodents leave them alone.
Chris
Muscari armeniacum Cantab
I seem to have a blue theme going right now ;>)
Chris
Hyacinthoides hispanica Excelsior is on my fall order list. I am happy to see a picture of it from your garden!! I might get a degree or two colder than you all. Does your scilla come back every year?
Thank you for this thread. It's a delight.
