Lets honour all our other spring treasures...

Good question Patti! Who knows, lol, maybe they provide an air filter before they open (and may aid the opening), I didn't see this one until it had opened. I haven't seen any more to examine in a closed state to see if there's a little peep hole at the end! I did see one of the 'Conspicuus' in bud which I planted last autumn, it might be open tomorrow.

I have been very busy the last days, so I need to catch-up with all of your treasures.
Yesterday I have been on a long tiring trip to a huge nursery by train, bus and tram. I guess I'm not the only one who gets these acute attacks of must-have-plant fever in spring, lol! Came home with more than 20 new babies!


Your Iris is very pretty Arlene specially combined with these lovely violets.

That's certainly an impressive Amaryllis dmj!

Interesting colour combination on your 'Natacha', Patti, it is pretty!

Wallaby, Natacha and Marguerite together make a lovely and lively combination, they enhance each other.
Interesting Muscari, I like the combination of the dark with the middle blue.
These Narcissus bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium are very charming and have an original shape.
I feel cheated with the package I bought that said mixed specie Narcissus. Some of these turned out to be very large hard yellow big ones I cannot imagine them to be species. I have put them in a vase, because in my little garden they over shout all the other more subtle beauties.

I have some very small ones opening in a soft cream-yellow; Narcissus triandus 'Hawera', but didn't take a pict. yet. I'll do that tomorrow as I have to leave again for the day.

bonitim, when you have the time, please tell us about your adventure to the nursery and a few details on your purchases! It must have been a wonder to require such a trip, although I'm sure it was an adventure!

I love all the delicate blooms of early springtime. The little iris are so elegant and ephemeral.

Lovely thread here.

I too am eargerly awaiting the story of how bonitin managed to so bravely struggle home with all those rescued plants, lol!

It's best to avoid the mixed packs of bulbs, I found they were usually limited in types and colour, a good way for them to rid themselves of their extras.

N. bulbocodium Conspicuus has opened, as I started to post them here I will continue (they are not really daffodils!). There is little foliage as they are newly planted, and at this point I don't see any difference to the other one.

Thank you!

As the nursery is located in a very small village, it's not so easy to get there by public transport and these are the moments I wish I had a car. But it is a long story to tell why I lost my confidence in driving a car..

I first had to take the tram to get to the station from where I had to take the train to the closest town to the village of the nursery and there I had great difficulty to find out what bus to take (frustration here because the information on Internet proved to be incorrect, grrr..), the bus drivers I asked didn't know or also gave wrong information, a bad-humoured employee at the train station said she had nothing to do with busses, only with trains, fair enough but there are more courteous ways to say it. So finally I had to phone the company of the bus-service to find out what bus to take; two thirds of that information was correct, the time and number of the bus) except the perron where the bus would arrive. It was in fact a citizen who helped me out and who had to take the same bus on another perron. I hope I'm not boring anyone with this lengthy report, But Tabasco and Wallaby you asked for it, lol!

The bus driver was very friendly though, phoned to a colleague to find out where exactly the nursery was and kindly offered to drop me beyond her fixed stop so I would have to walk less far to the place.

And then I arrived at the VERY huge nursery.
I had made a list on forehand of what I really wanted from their catalogue and found most, except two they didn't have yet as it is still early in the season.

Of course when you walk in a nursery one meets plants you never saw before and that call your attention, so I was drawn to a particular plant because of its foliage. I fell for it and it is a paeonia, I had never seen one with such a foliage, but I have little knowledge or experience with them; it's Paeonia tenuifolia. I had no idea of its flowers. I only bought it for its foliage, but now I discovered that the flowers are gorgeous too. I'll have to find out what will makes it happy as I definitely don't want to loose it!

Here is the list of what I bought;
Paeonia tenuifolia
Anemonella thalictroides (still in a dormant stage)
Trillium recurvatum
Ipheion uniflorum 'Wisley Blue', (because of wallaby's pict.!)
Anemone nemerosa 'Blue Beauty' (it's really gorgeous!)
Dicentra eximia 'Stuart Bootman'
Sanguisorba tenuifolia ( It's happy in shady conditions)
Aquilegia alpina
Aquilegia nevadensis
Linaria purpurea
Pulmonaria saccharata 'leopard'
Pulmonaria 'Raspberry splash'
Pulmonaria 'Ocupol'
Pulmonaria longifolia subsp. cevennensis
Helleborus foetidus 'Wester flisk' (a very young plant)

I will spare you the report of the way back, but the result was a very tired but happy me!

Here's a pict. of all the new babies together (I'll make some more detailed tomorrow);

a pict. I took in the nursery of a mother plant of Corydalis flexuosa 'Purle Leaf'. I have a couple planted in my garden but as they hardly get any sun at all, the purplish colour on the foliage is not that pronounced although they still bloom nicely.

Another one from the nursery; Fritillaria persica, I didn't buy it though, I tried it twice but didn't succeed because I cannot offer it the right conditions to be happy.

N. bulbocodium Conspicuus is charming wallaby!

Lol, what a journey that was! I can't imagine how you managed to carry home all those, and I'm guessing you had a distance to walk to the bus stop from the nursery. You must have taken a couple of large bags to put them in!

I counted 23 pots, you have only listed 16 plants, lol, trying to cover up? Paeonia tenuifolia has long been a want of mine, but they are very expensive here and rarely available. That's a fantastic nursery to have all those interesting plants! The nurseries near me just buy their plants in from Holland and other growers, so you only see what's looking good at the time.

The Corydalis looks happy, my best clump of C. flexuosa looked like that until the mole dug it out of existence in the hot year of 2006.

I have Pulmonaria Majeste, it's flowering now and has lovely silver leaves which grow more after the flowers. Not a bulb but here it is.

I see two pots of Ipheion uniflorum - here's 'Rolf Fiedler' blooming today:

The Puschkinia libanotica have been out for a week or so:

These are blooming in my brother's yard, Chionodoxa or Scilla?

bonitin, sort of a "survivor's journey" Perhaps a reality show in the making of plant seekers runamuk. I must confess that I have no knowledge of most of the plants on your list. Can't wait to see them when they bloom.

Claypa , My Puschkinia came out a few days ago too. I am hoping it is more vigorous this year.

I have more reticulated iris out.
Here is another picture of Kathyn Hodgkin which seems to bloom much later on the east side of the house than the west side. Patti

Here is 'Frank Elder'

This may be 'George', but I need to check and see if I but a label with them. I failed to note this patch of 25 plus in my journal. Patti

Lol, wallaby, no I didn't try to cover up, honestly!
It's just that from some I bought two, but I also forgot to mention; Epilobium angustifolium 'Stahl Rose' and Viola corsica.

Yes I have two large bags which are ideal for transporting plants, one in each hand keeps you in balance,lol. They have a stiff bottom and fit two rows of these usual standard square sized nursery pots that support each other when the bag is full. (good excuse to make them full, lol)

I am in the clouds with paeonia tenuifolia and it was one not on my list. I will gladly collect the seeds from it if you like if it makes them.
I didn't find it that expensive, I 'only' paid something like 12,5 € for it.

The combination of the fern-like foliage with the flowers is gorgeous, found its pict on this site;

http://images.google.be/imgres?imgurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/graphics/2002/05/04/ggrow04.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml%3Fxml%3D/gardening/2002/05/04/ggrow04.xml&h=167&w=250&sz=10&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=U-NNCjKFfd5QsM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpaeonia%2Btenuifolium%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Pulmonaria Majeste was on my wanting list, but I somehow missed it when I was there, They had soooo.. many types and I had a hard time to decide, wanting them all, taking pots out, then putting back as I thought the other was even more nice, I even got so confused that one or another of the names I've noted down of the ones I bought might not be right.. Unfortunately there were no labels stuck in individual pots only one big one for each type.

Claypa your Ipheion 'Rolf Fiedler' is very beautiful!
I also like Puschkinia libanotica, think I had one like that in the past in my beginning years but lost it.
I wouldn't know whether the one in your brother's yard is a Chionodoxa or scila, but it certainly is very pretty.

Lovely Iris retuculatas Patti!

Pict. of the bags ideal to transport plants, when full, lol!

Foliage of Paeonia tenuifolia;

Anemone nemerosa 'Blue Beauty' is truly gorgeous, but the weather has been too bad for them to open up its flowers, it almost did around midday when there was some sun but then closed up again, there has even been melting snow for a while.. Its very whimsical, because just now the sun is back..

Not a very good pict. of the whole plant;
What makes it so beautiful are the various shades of purplish pinks and blues..

One of its flowers opened up a bit;

boniton--next time you want to go to that nursery, call me and I'll fly over and drive you there!

Those are beautiful plants and pretty pictures.

And where are those lovely old moss covered saucers? At the garden center? I'd love some of those!

And the copious carry bags are lovely too.

Great story of your journey, by the way. You should be a professional garden writer--or maybe you are?

The backside of the petals are more pinkish-purple;

You make me too much compliments, Tabasco, blush..
No I'm not a garden writer, but a nature painter.

The 'lovely old moss covered saucers' are actually bird baths I make myself. You can easily make them yourself, don't have to buy them.
Here is a thread where I explain how to make them:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/724329/

Not really fitting in this thread but here is Helleborus foetidus 'Wester Flisk', a young plant.

The pics of my newly purchased pulmonaria's didn't really come out well, but here is Viola corsica, a bit tattered being half eaten-up but still showing its beauty;

Now back to the bulbs;
This one I bought as being Narcissus triandus 'Hawera' but I'm a bit confused when I look at other pictures in which the outer petals look more curved backwards, longer and more narrow, but anyhow I like mine too;

I still would like to have the real specie Narcissus triandus though, I specially love its delicate shape.

another angle from mine,

A muscari that came up spontaneous in my garden, I didnt buy it so I have no idea of its name;

This is a native wild forest bulb-plant I like very much; Allium ursinum, it just started open up its first blooms;

Closer;

Lovely daffs every one!

Good idea to start a second thread!
I wonder what means NOID ?

I specially love the Jenny's, Claypa!
and of course Narcissus poeticus, one of my favourites!

This is mine I bought as N.poeticus 'Dreamlight' but I don't see any noticeable difference with yours wallaby.

And this is a very old hybrid from 1869
Narcissus N.W.P.Milner

http://images.google.be/imgres?imgurl=http://www.paghat.com/images/daff-milner_mar.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.paghat.com/narcissusmilner.html&h=325&w=260&sz=17&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=ixIJ4N7jNlhrSM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3DNarcissus%2BW.P.Milner%2B%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

They are not as large as the picts.suggest;

the beautiful bud;

During a brief moment of sun;

What a terrific thread! I just don't seem to find these good threads
'til they are well underway. Too many glorious photos to comment on
them all. Bonitin - that sounds like a great haul back from the nursery
that was so trying to reach!

I love the little iris reticulata and the like (histroides, danfordiae etc).
They ususally last just a couple days with an early heat wave but this
year lasted for a few weeks.

I haven't seen any sanguinaria canadensis posted here yet. I've got some
of the multiplex (doubles) too ... though not yet in bloom.

Oh, I'm confused I meant to post these on the second thread of the Daffs!

Thanks Tammy, I love the blooms of Sanguinaria canadensis. I've had them once long ago, but lost them, I also love its unfolding foliage...

But I have one that has a lot of likeness and that seems to like my garden, I think sometimes a bit too much; Eomecon chionantha, but mine isn't blooming yet, but I like its umbrella-like foliage; Pic. from last year;

The underside of the leaves are greyish green and nicely veined;

Your bags look as if they were purpose made for carrying plants, lol, or did you have them made specially?

They are all beautiful, and you know me, if 'ever' you get seeds of Paeonia tenuifolia I would be most grateful, but it might not flower for some time. I have grown P. mloskowkitschia from seed and it's starting to grow well now (one only), they take a long time from seed, a root making one year and first leaf the next, but that's OK with me.

A little history of P. tenuifolia,

http://www.peonies.org/P_tenuifolia.html

Narcissus triandus is an expensive delight,

http://www.qualitydaffodils.com/product.php?productid=1060&cat=17&page=1

Allium ursinum is very pretty!

Lol bonitin, I spent so long googling, when I came back here I refreshed and got confused myself! Narcissus N.W.P.Milner looks much nicer in your pic than the stock pics. NOID is 'no ID' (identity)

I have a Sanguinaria canadensis multiples Tammy, I had to have one after I saw yours a couple of years ago! It had a funny flower last year, not sure what it's doing this year but it's in a pot and I know it was growing.

I have Puschkinia libanotica too claypa, I can never get a good pic of it! It's been flowering for some time now, still going. Mine almost disappeared but it seems to have set a few around.

Bonitin, I didn't mind your misposting of the narcissus at all. I only have a couple out so far. But I will post them in the other thread when they start to bloom in earnest. When looking up your Allium ursinum, I came across this site. Very interesting. I am afraid it might take over my world, and no bears here to enjoy it. Patti

http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Alli_urs.html

I'm not familiar with Eomecon chionantha bonitin. It is reminiscent
of the blood root isn't it. Can you believe my mom wanted me to grow
sanguiaria canadensis for the root? So she could use it as a dye for her
wool? This is many years ago... I don't think I could have dug it up for her
if it had survived. It grows along the small roads around here.

Wallaby - you take such gorgeous photo's! I'm still trying to get used
to my new camera. That Puschkinia libanotica is very nice. I love
those little blues (and pinks) peaking out from my garden. (I don't know
what species I have ... the common ones offered by all the catalog companies).

There are a lot of really great pictures here! Thought I'd a picture of winter aconite - Eranthis hyemalis. It tied with Crocus chrysanthus as being the first plants to flower, right after the snow melted.