A Whoosh of Spring

High winds and rain have magically brought us a glimpse of "real" spring. Part of this day was spent doing a little transplant job of the first seedlings under the lights. Basil, parsley, petunias, thyme and Buddleia were moved to bigger quarters. Jodi and I had our first real walk about in the back garden areas. The lovely little patch of Crocus Tricolor are in full bloom. It is about 15degrees Celsius today.

It is now possible to walk on some of the garden paths without wading through snow. The little Crocus ancyrensis are always ready to leap into bloom the instant the snow has receded. It is amazing how much warmth is felt on the leafy debris here on these beds. Some of the paths are still very snowpacked, but that should change in the next few days.The snow has left the potato pit, so we can access that anytime we feel inclined. There are many Snowdrops anywhere the snow has left their beds.Even the noses of the Crown Imperial Fritillaria are poking up. We were wondering what had become our the planter barrel at the bottom of the driveway.... it was slightly upended by the snowplowing efforts. No harm done, it seems. I always hope to see signs of the Hellebores in the early spring, but they are never very swift. This little hint is all we were able to see for now. The other patch is still snow-covered. There is always a lot of debris lying about, so nothing looks very tidy. Bill will be out with his rake any day now!

Semblance of spring

We have been enjoying several nice days this week, and the crocus took full advantage....popping up in many places...this early Crocus ancyrensis is among the most vivid. Without them things would be very dull. Various other patches were also doing their thing. It was the first day that I saw bees among the crocus. These paler yellow ones are called 'Romance' I wish the Snowdrops wouldn't always have such droopy heads.....Our pond is approaching an "ice-free" state. The many Glory of the Snow are just poking their little noses above ground.....can't wait for them to appear enmasse.

Bulb Planting Finished

The seasonal chore of bulb planting may have been finished yesterday.

We have been fairly restrained to this point, only putting in about 250 new bulbs, compared to a thousand last year.

I am of the opinion one can never have too many spring bulbs. They are among my very favourite plant categories.

One of several areas carpeted with many of the "tiny" bulbs....Scilla siberica , in this case.

The very vibrant tulip Praestans unicum. They are very bright and early, but deer love them.

Some mixed tulips I have a tendency to adopt favourites , and add more of some types each year. One such tulip is 'Spring Green', quite an elegant late bloomer that blends well with just about everything, especially rhododendrons. It is sometimes a bit of trial and error to find which tulips will perennialize rather dependably. I am hoping that 'Shirley's Dream' will be one that does. 2007 was the first year for these.

Narcissus are my all round favourites, and we have many varieties(75 or more). This group of a pink one named 'Accent' did very well last year. Prepared space is getting to be quite scarce. One little trick which proves to be space worthy, and quite aesthetic is to plant "bulbs on bulbs".....little bulbs like Grape Hyacinths, Anemones and crocus can get planted on top on deeper plantings of tulips, hyacinths or narcissus. They will bloom at the sane time or in sequence. An example would be the Anemone blanda with these purple Hyacinths.

Perhaps after Bill's new venture on the back hillside there will be spots that "need " bulbs another year.

The plan for this lower area near the Rhodie nursery bed is to move some rhododendrons of named varieties, or at least chosen ones, so they have some elbow room.

Tissue culture plants, and some returned rooted cuttings of our own plants need to be moved in the spring. There are a bunch of these at the bottom of this 2005 nursery area that are getting too shady on the east side, and are starting to lean!

This is the 2004 nursery bed in July, 2007. growth this past season has been very good, and quite a few of the 3-4 year-old plants have flower buds. These plants came out here in the spring of 2005, having been grown as seedlings from the fall of 2004.

The "teenagers in the the nursery" syndrome is forever plaguing us.