Spring Bulbs - What's Blooming? III

Mother nature intervened..

In a big way...

Merry Christmas!

Donna

Wow Donna! It looks like you got MUCH MORE snow than we did! So much for the vissitudes of gardening in zone 5! I hope the pots of Darwin tulips "Princess Irene" that I planted in this urn two weeks ago survive the cold!

Isn't it incredible?

I've never planted tulips in the spring. Have you done it before?

Donna

Kim, that is a wonderful deck you have w/multiple levels - is that all yours? I am so jealous! I am envisioning the flower bed I'd be be planting on the bank there that I could look at from my beautiful deck ^_^

Donna, wow sorry for the late snow but it is SO pretty - and yes very Christmas-ey! I know how beautiful your garden looks however when it gets going and am looking forward to your pictures.

BTW I still have two or three bags of red Darwin Hybrid tulips in my bulb refrig. that I might pot up and see what happens. I ran out of time and room last fall but I am a compulsive bulb-maniac so it didn't stop me from purchasing them anyway!!

Wow! We've had snow in Mar just a couple of the twenty some years I've lived
here in NE PA. The pictures are very pretty. :-)

Patti -I'm not sure when I first got those. I have a picture of them in spring 2006 and
I bought more that fall. I do tend to plant densely so they may not have really multiplied
all that much.

I have some pics from this morning. BEV

We got about 4 inches

last one it is falling off and melting now

Steve, your bags of bulbs in the refrigerator should be fine. I'd pot them up, give them a good drink and keep them someplace cool (moving them outdoors immediately may shock them a bit - don't you have temps in the 70's this time of year?). I do individual pots of bulbs for forcing each fall. I sink them in the border garden for the winter, then dig them up in mid-March to plant in the urns around my yard and use indoors (in lieu of cutting flowers to enjoy inside).

Here's how a couple of the urns looked on Friday, before our rain/snow event (with my rodent sentry on patrol). I hope these survive the cold. They cannot make it through the winter in the urns, but I think they'll be ok with a couple days of cold temps (it's 34 at the moment).

Leawood, that's good to know. I think I'll do what you do with bulbs next year.

Hi Bev! We got 8 or 9 inches, I'd say. Happily there is no wind and it's not really cold by our standards.

Ans Steve - I actually had iris reticulata and cricuses blooming the other day. I just wasn't quick enough!

Donna

I hate that you all have had snow this late, but some of those photographs are stunning.

Tammy, I am going to have to read about transplanting reticulated iris after seeing yours. I did read that if planted deep, they bloom less but form bigger bulbs and don't need dividing as soon as those planted shallow. It seems to me that I should plant shallow first and when they get into masses, if I am as successful as you, then I should planted transplanted deep. Make sense? I need to read more.

Lily_love. I got to see many saucer Mags out when I was in NOLA in Feb. I was thrilled. Your spot is so lovely.

Leawood, you have an amazing collection of urns and decorative containers. Where will you be posting photos of them come summer? I want to follow their bloom cycle. Purrrr. Patti

Here's a picture of some of the tulips I forced to use indoors. This was for Easter - 2 or 3 years ago. The tulips are Darwin "Princess Irene", one of my favorites - I love the purple with orange flame.

I had the 6" plastic azalea pots of bulbs in the ground over the winter, then dug them up in early March and put them in this Chinese foot tub with mulch to hide the pots. I kept the tub on an outdoor porch so it was cool, got sun, but was out of the rain, so it didn't get waterlogged (the planter doesn't have a drain hole). I moved it indoors on Friday, before Easter, to have for entertaining.

that's gorgeous!

A few more bulbs - I have some early daffodils opening up. And a
primrose (not a bulb but a sign of spring) almost in bloom. A little collage

Thanks for your compliments Steve, it's all ours 'til mother nature takes over. The back yard is wonderful birds' refuge and other natural critters, humans included. Tehehehe. Except when it floods, every 4-5 years we got floods that came up to the Japanese Maples (the red leaves) trees that framed the Koi pond back there.

But in the spring -- this time of year, it's wonderful:

Tammy, Love seeing the primula and narcissus. You have some great clumps of color. Patti

Lily_love. Beautiful shot.

Narcissus 'Small Talk' is trying hard to bloom soon. More rain most of the day and now raining hard again with thunder and lightening. My bulbs need some sun soon and I need it more. Patti

Here is Narcissus "Hillstar"

leawoodgardener - great idea with the pots in the urns.

here are a few more of my spring bulbs - Scilla peruviana

Dutch Iris

This is one of my favorites for a very long bloom period - starts in October and blooms until the end of April. Tulbaghia fragrans. Smells nice too - as implied by the name.

S&U; the Tulbaghia fragrans are lovely! The Iris are so vibrant! Steve, it's so nice to see Daffs still blooming brightly in your garden.
I have a question please; It appears that our blooming season is ahead of our friends up North -- most time -- except crested Iris. Everyone from up North such as Tammy's, Patti's all are in bloom and mine hasn't?

This is for us to begin to dream of liliums (these are in pots purchased from Lowes recently -- Stargazers).

Patti, I was looking at those little blue irises that you grow and looks like I can grow them in my area. Would you encourage me to get the Frank Elder one? I think it's so neat.

Lily, don't know why stuff that is blooming further north is not blooming for you. if your stuff is recently planted, that could be the answer, but not that you're a bad plant mommie. don't worry.

Vossner, I would certainly try them. The say they like some moisture in the spring, but prefer a drier site in the summer. Sounds like they would do well in Tx. I also read they don't need a long period of cold to bloom. I would pop the question in your regional forum as someone must have tried.

I would try to pick up some in the late Nov sales to try, any that are cheap. My reticulated Iris histrioides 'Frank Elder' came from Brent and Becky 10 for 6.00 sale in 2007. Last year I bought from the Van Engelen Nov sale 100 for 14.24 of Iris reticulata 'Cantab' and from Touch of Nature's sale in Dec for 2.25 of 25 of an unnamed Iris Reticulata. Here is a collageof that one. It was the very first to bloom for me in mass on March 12 2008 and is just fading now. I must find it's real name. Anyone know. Perhaps 'Harmony' ??? Patti

that is so nice. thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind.

Speaking of dwarf irises, my Katharine Hodgkin was up and blooming today!!

This is it's first year, so who knows it might change it's mind and be earlier next year..

Artemiss, Great news, and coincedently, I have some more out too, they were hiding under a lavender bush. They are usually earlier. But I am happy to have more, 5more in total today.

Correction. The one I posted of I.r. 'Joyce' before is not. This is the real Iris reticulata 'Joyce' which started appearing today in where I though I had planted it. The dogs or tag gremlins are rearranging my signage. grrrrrrrrrr. Patti

I guess it is Iris time! :-) Beautiful dwarf iris, everyone ^_^

Here is one of my favorite Dutch irises in bloom

Three varieties together

Here are my wee little daffs this yr. BEV

close up

I don't have any of the dwarf irises that many of you have. But, like Steve, my Dutch irises are blooming too.

another blue bulb - Scilla peruviana

Tulbaghia fragrans still blooming after 5 months

Artemis - this one is for you. This is the most massive this patch of freesias have ever gotten.

Lily_Love, you mentioned the bloom time of Crested Iris, do you mean Iris cristata that grows wild along stream banks? Those are similar in appearance and stature to the Iris reticulata in the pics above, but naturally bloom later. They typically start blooming in May here.

Soilsandup: That Scilla peruviana is very nice! I like it and am adding it to my wish list. Thank you.