My monthly Bloom Day posts tend to be very long and, as the March 15th early spring bloomfest will probably be especially lengthy, I decided to "split the baby" and present my bulb blooms in a separate post. While I expect a lot more Iris, Narcissus, and possibly species Tulip blooms to appear within the next month, there are already some flashy bulb blooms to share now.
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| Overall, I've been disappointed with the Anemone coronaria blooms in my cutting garden this year; however, 'Admiral' has been the exception. The plants suffered when temperatures soared into the low 80sF but these recovered reasonably well. |
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| The blue Anemone coronaria have been much less vigorous and the white 'Mount Everest' (not shown) have barely made an appearance. The bicolor bloom on the right appears to have sprung from a corm planted in 2020. |
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| I've planted Freesia bulbs in various colors throughout the garden in prior years. I'm still trying to sort out colors blooming in spots they weren't intended for due to mislabeled bulb packages. |
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| Hippeastrum 'Ambiance' was slow to sprout but it's putting on a good show now |
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| In contrast, Hippeastrum 'Luna', potted up at approximately the same time, began flowering in early January. It's last 2 bloom stalks are just opening now. |
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| I don't have a record as to when I planted Ipheion uniflorum 'Starry Nights' in my back borders but my guess is that it was 8-9 years ago. There are more flowers every year even though some of the small bulbs were probably displaced as I widened the borders and replanted over the years. |
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| I've added more Dutch Iris every year since 2018. The oldest clumps of 'Sapphire Beauty' next to the backyard fountain are always the first to bloom. |
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| I have a few masses of this same Narcissus in the the back garden, purchased as bulbs in bags years ago from the local garden center. If they were identified, I never made note of it. |
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| I planted Ranunculus tubers again this this past October but so far they've been a disappointment with only a handful of the tubers just now developing buds. However, I bought a couple of plants in bud to fill in the empty spots in the pot on the left several weeks ago. |
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| Scilla peruviana, which despite its peruviana epithet, hails from the Mediterranean region of Spain and Portugal rather than Peru, is a dependable spring bloomer in my garden. I plan to dig up and divide the bulbs after they finish blooming this year. |
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| Like the Freesias, Sparaxis tricolor bulbs are blooming in spots throughout my garden, all planted as a mix of colors. The lion's share of these are orange but now and then I find one in another color. |
I'll share my the other blooms next Tuesday. In the meantime, I hope you find some color to brighten your corner of the world this weekend.
All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I'm enamored by the pale lavender Freesia: a dainty, very english-cottage bloom which you've use successfully in a couple of recent IAVOM creations. The other one I like is Scilla peruviana, which has great color and intriguing bloom pattern. I wonder if I can grow it here.
ReplyDeleteI'd have said that your climate is too wet and cold for Scilla peruviana but I found an article touting its use in dry, unirrigated areas like parking strips in the Pacific Northwest (Portland to be specific): https://www.pdxmonthly.com/home-and-real-estate/2013/05/blue-flower-scilla-peruviana-may-2013#:~:text=The%20intricate%20flowers%20of%20Scilla,a%20dry%20parking%20strip%20garden.&text=Drought%2Dtolerant%20plants%20are%20more,important%20in%20Pacific%20Northwest%20gardens. It might be worth an experiment planting it in a pot where you could exercise some control over how much precipitation it gets.
DeleteI did Ranunculus a couple years but they were never all that successful.
ReplyDeleteYou've grown a nice array of bulbs. The rich purple of the Scilla is really appealing. The TB Iris here are starting, too--seems a bit earlier than usual. Maybe they gave up on winter rain.
I'm afraid I've given up on winter rain too, HB. I give the chance of getting any calla lilies to bloom on my back slope about a 20% chance at best.
DeleteI admire your floral show! Bulbs and I just don't get along. I put a shovel through them thinking there's an empty space to plant...
ReplyDeleteI've done the shovel through bulbs number more often than I can count, Loree ;) It's a bigger problem with large bulbs like Narcissus and lilies. The little bulbs like Freesias, Ipheion and Sparaxis, which multiply in the ground, seem better at dodging injury.
DeleteYour green thumb is showing, Kris! (BTW, are you going to Fling this year? I'd love to but can't get away. Looks like fun.)
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not currently planning on attending this year's Fling but I hope to make it to the next one.
DeleteOmigosh, SO beautiful, I am envious! So much to love, freesia, scilla, sparaxis, anemones, delicious!
ReplyDeleteWe got a really early start on spring but I think it's likely to end early too...
DeleteWhat a treat to see blooming bulbs. They are food for the soul.
ReplyDeleteSpring will come to you soon I hope, Elaine!
DeleteThis post looks like it could be in a bulb catalog. Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gerhard!
DeleteSo many really beautiful bulbs, Kris - I love them all, especially the ones that have naturalized so happily.
ReplyDeleteDo you dig and replant your Dutch irises each year? I found it was the only way to keep them reliably blooming in Phoenix, but I think the weather patterns were just a little too wrong for them there. Yours look much more comfortable!
No, I'm lucky in that I can leave the Dutch Iris in place, although at some point I'm sue I'll need to dig them up just to reduce their density.
ReplyDelete