HEY HEY!! Went outside into the blustery winds this morning and
checked the western raised bed and it has SEVEN crocuses!! There
they were, looking like the crocus fairy had risen during the wee
hours, brushed the snows that hadn't completely melted away, and
carefully coaxed each mature bud from between the slender, grassy
leaves that were protectively wrapped around each blossom, then while
the flowers were being born, took his detail brush, and carefully
painted pin stripes of purplish pink along the soft lemon yellow
petals.

Across from the one snowdrop that I had found yesterday in the snow,
was another one, standing proudly against the dark, moist, cold soil.
The other one was more timid.....it was smaller, but had strived to
put out a flower equally as magnificent as it's sister just a short
way aways. It looks like the fairies are putting out the lamps to
light their way thru the raised bed in the wee hours of the morning.

These are the teeny snowdrops that come first. They don't have the
dots of green on each petal near the tips, but had a green thumb
smudge at the base of each flower near the top of the stem. Pure
magic.

The winds threaten to tear the hair out, and thru the swaying of my
massive jack pines, I smell the warming soils. The wind wheel is
turning so fast the colors are all running together. The birds are
hanging on tight to the feeders and I gaze at them in humor. "HANG
ON MARGARET, it's gale winds, hold yer feathers tight!"! GBSEG

Sunny today, and despite the threat of moisture rolling thru again,
this is what we gardeners live for. Each little bulb emerging to give
us hope that spring, though not totally here yet, is just in the
wings with another amazing show.

thanks for allowing the time to share again with you. I have changed
newsgroup servers and hopefully this one will work.........
madgardener up on the blustery ridge, back in fairy holler where the
fairies are slowly waking up and going about their routines in this
garden, overlooking a scrubbed English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee,
zone 6b

(green w/envy)

~sigh~ it's coming, I just keep telling myself to hang on . . .
L
Zone 5 North of Boston,
more snow today (lite)

"MadGardener" wrote in message
87...
HEY HEY!! Went outside into the blustery winds this morning and
checked the western raised bed and it has SEVEN crocuses!!

(snippadoo)

"MadGardener" wrote in message
87...
HEY HEY!! Went outside into the blustery winds this morning and
checked the western raised bed and it has SEVEN crocuses!!

My recollection from childhood was that the crocuses came & went way too
fast to be of consequence, but that was because only one particularly
common type ever got planted in my elders' yards. But today, having 15
species plus varieties scattered around my own gardens, there are crocuses
blooming from September through April, with the greatest majority Jan thru
March. Everyday is a joyful discovery of more blooms way before spring.
Sometimes my heart catches these drifts are so amazing.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

"LeeAnne" wrote in
:

(green w/envy)

~sigh~ it's coming, I just keep telling myself to hang on . . .
L
Zone 5 North of Boston,
more snow today (lite)

"MadGardener" wrote in message
87...
HEY HEY!! Went outside into the blustery winds this morning and
checked the western raised bed and it has SEVEN crocuses!!

(snippadoo)




then you'd be purple with jealousy when I tell you it's 46o today,
blustery, but sunny and I pulled about a cubic yard of vinca outa the
flowerbeds........discovered lupine seedlings from the seeds that Geoff
in Scotland sent me that I sowed last fall up, WOO HOO!! of course it
could all change with a winter snow next week, Mom's Nature is fickle
like that!
hang in there girl, I like yer snippadoo................
madgardener

(paghat) wrote in
news
"MadGardener" wrote in message
87...
HEY HEY!! Went outside into the blustery winds this morning and
checked the western raised bed and it has SEVEN crocuses!!

My recollection from childhood was that the crocuses came & went way
too fast to be of consequence, but that was because only one
particularly common type ever got planted in my elders' yards. But
today, having 15 species plus varieties scattered around my own
gardens, there are crocuses blooming from September through April,
with the greatest majority Jan thru March. Everyday is a joyful
discovery of more blooms way before spring. Sometimes my heart catches
these drifts are so amazing.

-paghat the ratgirl


I would think your September crocuses are actually the colchicum's
aren't they? I have noticed once I planted the crocus corms and they
arrived the next late winter, that their return the following year was a
smaller flower. And I sprinkle a bit of time release bulb food on
everyone in the fall too, to suppliment the bulbs that are already in
the ground under the perennials.

your words were good, Paggers. Glad you have little fairy flowers to
lighten your heart up as well. I just wish I could get hold of some
aconite bulbs in bulk to see if I could get a good clump of them in the
late winter as well. The ones I planted melted on me. either the worm
soil was too rich, or it just didn't like where they were (strong east,
southern well draining raised bed on top of my retaining wall)
mid February, closer and closer to spring every day!
madgardener

Crocuses have popped their pretty heads out here in Northern
California as well! I looked out my window yesterday to see a
sprinkling of purple adorning the brown and gray landscape. Upon
closer examination, I found about two dozen crocuses, accompanied by
just as many Japanese Iris, both of which I had given up for gone
after a marauding squirrel dug up my garden last fall. Also, my
Hardenbergia is in full bloom, and looks stunning! Spring is just
around the corner!

-Fleemo

"Geoff" wrote in
:

On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 19:20:39 GMT, Madgardener
wrote:


then you'd be purple with jealousy when I tell you it's 46o today,
blustery, but sunny and I pulled about a cubic yard of vinca outa the
flowerbeds........discovered lupine seedlings from the seeds thatGeoff
in Scotland sent me that I sowed last fall up, WOO HOO!! of courseit
could all change with a winter snow next week, Mom's Nature is fickle
like that!
hang in there girl, I like yer snippadoo................
madgardener

Woohoo Marilyn!!

Glad to hear that! The lupin plants that provided those seeds are
starting to throw up new rosettes of leaves fromtheir bases since my
temps (in Dundee, Scotland) seem to be similar to those that you are
reporting in recent posts.



hmmmmmmm, if it's that nice in Scotland, and the scenery is as beautiful
as it looks from the book you sent me with the calendar, maybe we should
just pack up and move there...........GBSEG


I have a few snowdrops out, the crocus blooms are imminent, and
hellebores (niger and foetidus)
are well in evidence in my garden.

I didn't think to look at the hellebores, I am so frustrated with their
taking their sweet time with bud formation......I will run out really
quickly and see if there are ANY signs of buds. report back tomorrow if
there are.......... good to see yer lurking in there Geoff! G

"maddie" who took pictures of a whole huge flock of wild turkeys today
in the lower pastures across from my dead end road, and when they saw me
they boogied to their safer inner pasture, but I got some neat pictures
anyway.

Regards Geoff

On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 22:04:24 GMT, Madgardener
wrote:

"Geoff" wrote in
:

On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 19:20:39 GMT, Madgardener
wrote:


then you'd be purple with jealousy when I tell you it's 46o today,
blustery, but sunny and I pulled about a cubic yard of vinca outa the
flowerbeds........discovered lupine seedlings from the seeds thatGeoff
in Scotland sent me that I sowed last fall up, WOO HOO!! of courseit
could all change with a winter snow next week, Mom's Nature is fickle
like that!
hang in there girl, I like yer snippadoo................
madgardener

Woohoo Marilyn!!

Glad to hear that! The lupin plants that provided those seeds are
starting to throw up new rosettes of leaves fromtheir bases since my
temps (in Dundee, Scotland) seem to be similar to those that you are
reporting in recent posts.



hmmmmmmm, if it's that nice in Scotland, and the scenery is as beautiful
as it looks from the book you sent me with the calendar, maybe we should
just pack up and move there...........GBSEG


I have a few snowdrops out, the crocus blooms are imminent, and
hellebores (niger and foetidus)
are well in evidence in my garden.

I didn't think to look at the hellebores, I am so frustrated with their
taking their sweet time with bud formation......I will run out really
quickly and see if there are ANY signs of buds. report back tomorrow if
there are.......... good to see yer lurking in there Geoff! G


Yeppers, Marilyn!! I'm usually here keeping an eye on all the good
folks here. Hope those lupine seeds give you the multicolored display
that their parents did in my garden last year. Also, I trust that your
hellebores are progressing..
Best wishes
Geoff

Madgardener expounded:

your words were good, Paggers. Glad you have little fairy flowers to
lighten your heart up as well. I just wish I could get hold of some
aconite bulbs in bulk to see if I could get a good clump of them in the
late winter as well. The ones I planted melted on me. either the worm
soil was too rich, or it just didn't like where they were (strong east,
southern well draining raised bed on top of my retaining wall)
mid February, closer and closer to spring every day!
madgardener

I've had no luck with aconites, either. I had a patch once that
lasted for two years (all bloomed) but then they dwindled down to
nothing, and were gone completely in another two years.

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

Glad you have little fairy flowers to
lighten your heart up as well. I just wish I could get hold of

I love my snowdrops! They look like little teeny umbrellas for elves!
I just wish they would emerge!

Love caryn
(another six inches of snow due this weekend, OY!)
"Come into my garden, my flowers want to meet you!"

Madgardener expounded:

the ones that I got didn't even have the courtesy to do that for me. Out
of 20 tiny bulbs, I got ONE flower the next spring and then nothing after
that. I might try them in a shallow pot outside next time to see if that
helps, in a sandy, poor soil.

Well that little patch that bloomed twice was probably the sixth time
I tried them. Difficult little buggers........

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

If we can't see them--they are covered with snow--are crocuses still
blooming underneath all that whiteness? And what about the heaths and
heathers? Eugenia, zone 6, two towns west of Boston
"Ann" wrote in message
...
Madgardener expounded:

the ones that I got didn't even have the courtesy to do that for me. Out
of 20 tiny bulbs, I got ONE flower the next spring and then nothing after
that. I might try them in a shallow pot outside next time to see if that
helps, in a sandy, poor soil.

Well that little patch that bloomed twice was probably the sixth time
I tried them. Difficult little buggers........

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:22:17 GMT, MadGardener
wrote:
HEY HEY!! Went outside into the blustery winds this morning and
checked the western raised bed and it has SEVEN crocuses!! There
they were, looking like the crocus fairy had risen during the wee
hours, brushed the snows that hadn't completely melted away, and
carefully coaxed each mature bud from between the slender, grassy
leaves that were protectively wrapped around each blossom, then while
the flowers were being born, took his detail brush, and carefully
painted pin stripes of purplish pink along the soft lemon yellow
petals.
Glad to hear they're getting up and about. Mine are still hidden
under the snow here in S. Jersey. After this current round of snow,
its supposed to warm up a bit around here. If so, maybe I'll see a
few of them real soon. I can hope anyway

I'm guessing that this year, the snowdrops and crocuses will come out
pretty close together.

"harrison" expounded:

If we can't see them--they are covered with snow--are crocuses still
blooming underneath all that whiteness? And what about the heaths and
heathers? Eugenia, zone 6, two towns west of Boston

I've never seen 'em bloom under the snow, I've just seen them bloom
while uncovered, and then it snows on top of them, ruining them (they
look like crepe paper). The ones that bloom first in my front yard
evey year have at least two feet of snow on them, I doubt they've even
come up yet. But give 'em a few warm days and.......(I can't wait!!)

I've just come home from Maine (-20°) Friday night, I couldn't believe
it, and were supposed to get a foot tomorrow into tomorrow night?
Good for cross country, but wow, what a lot of snow for this winter

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

In article , Mark wrote:

I planted a little bag of yellow crocuses last year. Now they are
blooming outside my window under a Japanese maple and I want more of
them. I always hate this time of year because there is so few green
things and nothing blooming outside and now these little things are
popping up and they look so bold with nothing else around to compete
with them. I want to add more bulbs as I have a lot of shrubs and
small trees and perennials but almost no bulbs at all. But I am
already learning that I am going to be bad about planting bulbs and
then digging into them later when I decide to plant something else. I
just can not remember where the little fellows are. I picked up some
Mediterranean heather (or so the Lowe's in Memphis called it that)
when I went out of state earlier this year because it was
winter-blooming. It has survived some weather around zero for several
nights and is still fairly happy looking but I don't know how it will
do when summer hits. I need to find some more winter color and I
need to learn more about bulbs and find cheaper places to buy them. I
can't afford to buy many if I buy them locally for five or six bucks
for a little bag of them. Oh well.

Bulbs that bloom late winter or early spring can go way back under
deciduous shrubs that will be leafless & let sun in when the bulbs are in
full flower, & where you're not apt ever to plant anything else anyway so
won't dig them up. I dislike garden markers as they interupt the natural
flow, but I had to cave in & use them for bulbs I don't want to
accidentally dig up. I've tried mostly to not add bulbs until clumping
perennials are established in an area, well enough planted that nothing
but bulbs could even fit in, then I add bulbs to those areas where I
probably won't have to do any digging until time to divide some clumping
perennial.

There are MANY crocus varieties & I think it's best to select them by
species & habit rather than in nameless mixes, so you can time them so
that there'll be crocuses flourishing AT LEAST from late winter to the end
of spring (then can add true winter-bloomers & autumn-bloomers for still
longer presence).

There are many other early bloomers besides crocuses. Scilla (squill) can
thrive in shadier dryer areas if they have to; they're nice to insert in
areas where not much is apt to grow, they're just not picky; they have
large clusters of dangling bells in white, blues, purples, or pinks. Some
begin blooming in March, most in April.

Grape Hyacinths begin blooming March & last most of spring, plus their
grassy turf has a lovely autumn & winter presence. There are several
species & cultivars, but most look pretty similar, either blue or white
grape-cluster flowers. Some of them can become rampant, which I don't
mind, though anyone fearful they may spread too much can get "Valerie
Finnis," a sterile cultivar that naturalizes in-place without spreading
beyond the area it's planted.

In bloom sometimes by January but certainly by February are Snowdrops
(Galanthus nivalis is a miniature). Ranunculus ficaria are teency bulbs
with beautiful foliage appearing in February, nice to have because most
else just has turf-like leaves; then it begins blooming March & keeps it
up through much of spring.

Also cyclamens, many of which bloom autumn without leaves then later in
winter with leaves; Cyclamen coum sometimes has three bloom periods the
last extra bloom time being in March, & the leaves linger some while after
that. The leaves themselves are very ornate. It's hard to find any bulb
(tubor in cyclamen's case) which does as great in dry shady spots.

Hepatica bloom late winter & early spring & keep their interesting leaves
all winter; they like conditions similar to helebores.

Not easy to lay hands on is the early-blooming Bloodroot, which grows out
of fat fibrous roots rather than bulbs. It's extremely hardy, but the
blooms are transient in the garden -- big white daisies close to the
ground quite early in spring. But the strangely lobed leaves will persist
until summer heat, & it's interesting even just for the leaves, which when
they first appear are rolled up like cigarette papers around the base of
the flower stems. It likes the shade, mine grows in the shadow of
hellebores.

I was not always a daffodil fan because the full-sized ones are just too
garish for my woodland-gardening style, but I've slowly developed a liking
for the miniatures which are flowering by March (with forcing, earlier).
Most of the easily available miniatures are cultivars of Narcissus
jonquilla, but for some reason rarely marketed as Jonquils. At least three
cultivars are even likely to be available right now forced in pots in your
local nurseries, so if you neglected to plant the bulbs last autumn & want
to put in some well-along daffodils right now, you can, but plan to get
more via the bulbs to plant this coming autumn. All these are only eight
inches tall, a foot at most, & naturalize well.

The subtlest daffodils have "reflexed" petals & look like yellow rockets,
generally only from bulb specialists. Also the "hoop petticoat" daffodils
are my real favorites, they're subtle & ultra charming. There are many
species of the hoop petticoats, but only one is particularly easy to get,
also the hardiest surest to naturalize, Narcissus bulbocodium conspicuus.
They bloom before other daffodils, beginning February & last deep into
Spring.

Most tulips bloom later in spring, but Tulipa kaufmannia blooms as early
as March (even though mainly in April). Tulips of the "greigii" group have
such pretty leaves -- red stripes or red mottling dependng on cultivar, in
February, so they're immediately decorative weeks before blooming.

There are other ways of getting thrilling winter effects in the garden.
Many autumn-fruiting shrubs keep their bright berries through winter &
into spring. Deciduous shrubs, trees, & large vines with exfoliating bark
are interesting year-round, & the exfoliating bark on deciduous climbing
hydrangea is bright orange. There are winter-blooming shrubs -- I have
deciduous Pink Dawn Verbenum, a winter-flowering Honeyscuckle shrub
(Lonicera fragrantissima), Witchhazel, & catkin-flowering contorted hazel,
all in full bloom for winter. Our black pussy willow shrub (Salix
gracilistyla var melanostachys) is covered with woolybears right now at
mid-February. Oregon Grape (mahonia) blooms bright yellow in February,
sometimes in January. A tough evergreen groundcover, bergenia, has many
cultivars with highly varied bloom times, but "Winterglut" (aka Winter
Glow) blooms at the height of winter & continues to the end of winter, big
purple flowers.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/