Spring Bulbs - What's Blooming? III

I would post a pics. BEV Please

Patti, those airy florets belong to the ornamental cabbage. Some of them look like this one:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/153596
I plant those in the Fall, when I set down my spring spring bulbs. I used them as border, they're are hardy here over winter. :-) They're biennuals, so I pull them off by the end of the growing season after they finish making seeds.
Kim

Dang, I thought they might be a Brassica . By spring here they would be gone and not flower. I love that pale yellow with your pinks and blues. Thanks for the information. I may have to look for something with that color in a bulb like Camassia leichtlinii 'Semiplena ' I bought 5 of them on sale in the fall of 2007. I planted them in a part shade, but think I will try some more if they are on sale in full sun next fall. They have that pale yellow color that would look similar to your good combo. Patti

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/genus.php?genusid=9

Patch of blue..

This daff was pretty, but in an odd place near the house, behind a branch to get a great shot.

Bulbs I forced in pots in the ground were planted in the urns on March 16. They are starting to grow, thanks to a cold rain and a few days of cool sunshine. The variety is "Princess Irene".

I have more Dutch iris starting to open finally. No other bulb really gives you as much bang-for-the-buck color en masse.

This message was edited Mar 28, 2009 1:14 PM

These Sir Winston Churchills have been in the ground for a couple of years and they seem to have a more "double" look than the ones I bought last fall. I think SWC is a sport of "Geranium", which is a single, though I wonder if some strains from some sources are closer to the original single form.

In previous years I mixed tiny 'Tete 'a' Tete' daffodils with the tulips I forced in the urns, but they never seemed to bloom together, so now I just put tulips. When I emptied the urns in seasons past, I saved the 'Tete 'a' Tete' daffodils and planted them in the border garden. Each year they seem to put out more blooms. The muscari foliage looks pretty ragged after a rough winter.

It's a variety I really like, though it's short stature restricts where it will work. Two years ago I was in Paris in mid-March and was thrilled to see the variety used in window boxes, urns and as a border in massive park plantings.

I know this is actually a Rhizome and not a bulb but as one of my first german Irises to bloom I thought it was really pretty.

Here's the view of the border garden with 'Tete 'a' Tete' along the border and 'King Alfred' (also salvaged from an urn several years ago) under the weeping cherry tree.

LeawoodGardener, I like seeing the "big picture" of how people plant their bulbs. I can see scale and form that way of what looks good together. I love that cherry tree. Nice bed.

I have many 'tete a tete' planted along border edges too, they always makes me happy.

I ordered some 'King Alfred' from OHG last fall just because they said they were selling " True stock 3 for 9.75" and that most in the industry being sold as 'King Alfred', are bogus. I'll bet I won't be able to tell the difference from the ones I planted years ago, unless they were the "real" ones. Too funny. I just had to see and I do like OHG bulbs when I can afford them. He is so passionate.

OHG

A bed of 'King Alfred' Daffodils around my fish pond. Those on the sunny side of the bed opened up earlier this week. The rest are set to pop as soon as we get a little warmer weather.

Very nice whether it is a real 'KA' or not, who cares! Great pond. What is the ground cover around the narcissus? I am following your tulip bed too, that will be stunning. I forgot to include Iris reticulata 'Purple Gem' which is a cutie and has come back strong from last year. Patti

I'm glad to hear you mention the 'King Alfred' story. I've bought bulbs listed as "King Alfred" since the '60's and a few years ago, I noticed they were called "Improved King Alfred". One local nursery told me "Dutch Master" was the 'new' "King Alfred". I'll be interested to see what you get. What is OHG? I've ordered from VanBourgondien and VanEnglen for years, but I'm always interested in new sources.

The ground cover is a sedum I planted 6 years ago, when I put in the pond. Here's what it looked like last year, a little later in the season, just before the azaleas were in bloom.

Glad you like the flowering cherry, bbrookrd. Here's what it looked like when it bloomed last year (the daffodils were almost gone).

LeawoodGardener, Wonderful color with the yellow planters. The sedum looks great as ground cover. I have no weeping anything, but we make a spring visit each year to Boston to see a couple we love. One at Mt Auburn Cemetery and a huge one at the Arnold Arboretum. Back to bulbs, the sun is coming out, so I will go out and see who is up. Patti

Back to bulbs or lack there of here. Here is a bed that is loaded with bulbs, but not much showing yet. The only thing I have that sort of weeps is Buddleja alternifolia which I trained as a tree which is in the picture. It blooms in the spring and again in the fall. But the sun is trying to come out now.

I just came back and some dang critters made a meal of some nice just up tulips inside the fenced area. DH is out looking for a breach in the fence. I am downloading today's blooms. Still very sparse. Patti

patti, the blue collage is lovely, hope you're feeling blue in a good kinda way. My same feelings about OHG. I'm so impressed w/ his passion but still kinda hard to justify the pricing sometimes. I am gonna get a byzantine glad from him just to compare it with one I got from an equally passionate person but it's not as vivid a color so I have a slight doubt.

I don't like weeping plants, I find them depressing to my eyes. does that make sense? I do have one single weeper and it is a calliandra.

I've had these blooming for awhile

Tahiti, Love them.

Vhanna, nice clump. I thought Ok was getting snow today. I am originally from Tulsa. I won't see my 'Tahitia' until the end of April or early May. Patti

Patti,

We are in the SE corner of Ok. and we didn't have any snow, rain and it got in the low 30's last and and high today in mid 40's and wind blowing. We have had 80 and lot of 70 degree weather earlier in the month. Crazy!

Are you near Tom. My DH for some reason loves that name for a town. I was in Tulsa from the 11th until the 16th and it was cool.

Here are the lasted kids. A strange little one called Iris reticulata 'Pauline' and the lovely Iris histrioides 'Lady Beatrice Stanley' and then I.reticulata
'Pixie' which is coming up strong and then finally a better shot of Iris reticulata 'Frank Elder' You can tell I like the wee iris. Patti

Well our cold rain has turned into a cold snow - here's what my daffodils beside the fish pond look like now (4 pm Saturday). I think the Saucer Magnolias are toast.

Leawood, sorry for you buds, but that is a great picture of the vicissitudes of mother nature. Sad but very pretty. Patti

Patti - love those iris reticulata. Where do you get them? I have every type that Van Englen
offers and I just love them. My only complaint is they often last just days when its a warm spring.

I love all the pictures & bulb talk. I'll have some to share soon. We had a few days of warmth
and a lot of the little ones are now blooming. I see a few daffodils with their buds up and getting
ready to open.

Tam

Tammy I can't wait to see your show too. We have been stuck in the 40's for way too long, but it is actually the norm for here.

I have gotten them from mostly in this order from Brent and Becky, Van Englen, Eflowergarden, McClure & Zimmerman, Touch of Nature, Bulmeister, Tulipworld, and Van Bourgondien

I order a few at full price and then hope they have some left when they go on sale in late Nov. They bloom before even most of the crocus for me and seem to like the digs here. Many more to come, I hope! Patti

Nice iris Patti..I planted histrioides last fall, and after having seen them this spring, I have a feeling I will be planting more this fall. Of your dwarf iris, is there any difference in bloom time, or do they all kinda pop up and open about the same time?
Sadly, I don't think my Katharine Hodgkin made it..it looks like most of my George are up, but no sigh of the KH.

Did I show you my little iris reticulata?

Artemiss, Katharine Hodgkin is the earliest here and I almost always miss it as it is such an odd pale color. I walked right by it for a couple of days before I noticed it this year. The reticulated ones are spread out with various bloom times here, however I do have them planted in very different places all over the garden. From shade to full sun. Last year the first ones, Katharine Hodgkin, bloomed March 13 and I have pictures of the last ones to be in bloom which was 'Harmony' on April 17th, when I left town for a week. In 2007 Harmony bloomed on April 9th, so I figure I will have a three year record with it this April So I would say I have some out for at least 5 weeks. I don't get my first tulips until the end of the first week in April so I am happy to have them. Hope this helps. I have more to pop. Patti

Tammy that is a great clump. Are you going to divide them? I have never had that luxury! They love that spot. How many years have they been there? Patti

Here's how my neighbor's Saucer Magnolia looked at 10:00 am yesterday.

That's a wow. Thanks. Pouring here, my poor reticulated iris will all be smashed. Patti

LHM, that is glorious. I didn't know they got so big. I have a little one, some reason I thought it would be a big shrub, but not a tree. Thank goodness I have enough space.

Those saucer Mag. got toasted here in the South last month! The beauty is awesome when mother nature is mild and considerate. Nice pix LG!

lily, I grow mine in shade. If I can grow in TX heat, seems you could too. I did kill my first one because planted in a moist area. apparently doesn't like wet feet. That porch is glorious. I would swear I've seen it in a mnagazine. Can I come visit????lol

Here's my neighbor's saucer magnolia this morning. My hedges are all bent down with the weight of the snow - I'll go shake them off when the air temp is warm enough to make the snow fall apart - now it is the form of an ice chunk.

I'd love to send bulb pictures but...