Another bounty from commentor Mike S (now with a Democratic Congressperson):
The backyard glacier/snowfield is almost all gone from our yard here in SE Pennsylvania. The earliest of the spring flower bulbs are blooming and they are cheerful even though they are European immigrants and not native.
These pics were all taken March 11th with my phone and not one of my big cameras. Like my old point and shoot Nikon a phone’s thin camera body makes it easy to take ground level close-ups with a wide field of view and a full depth of field.
Our garden is like a scrapbook. Many of the plants in it were gifts from friends or purchased from nurseries whose owners were/are friends of ours. Many of these good people have passed away, but I remember them every time I walk in our yard thanks to these floral mementos.
In today’s picture set the most cheerful are winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) which came from our good friend Anita. The local honeybees were all over them yesterday when the temps made it up to the mid 70s! They are in the buttercup family and look the part.
Next are several Snowdrops (Galanthus species and varieties) which are all variations on a green and white theme. I am a galanthophile, but not a crazy GALANTHOPHILE like some of our gardening friends. We only have about 6 or 7 relatively common varieties.
First my favorites are the giant snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii) which make nice elegant clumps. My best two forms of these were gifts from friends too Dick V. and Jim M. whom I miss very much but they live on in my memory via their plants.
Then the double form of the common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) ‘Flore-pleno’ where each stamen has turned petaloid. These aren’t completely sterile, some of these modified stamens still produce pollen as a yellow spot at the tip of some as you can see in the one picture. These plants were left here by a previous property owner and I’ve been spreading them around the yard for the last 36 years!
The last snowdrop is one of the more exotic (but not outrageously expensive) forms. It has green on the outside of the outer petals. It is Galanthus nivalis ‘Scharlockii’. It is putting on a good show this year.
I love crocuses but we can only grow them where the voles can’t easily get at the bulbs and devour them and for us that is in the lawn where the grasses dense roots provide protection. The earliest are the cute, light purple “Tommys” (Crocus tommasinianus) and the Snow Crocus (Crocus chrysanthus) which is named for its early blooming season, not the color although there are white varieties.
Finally I do have some winter blooming hardy Cyclamen although they don’t multiply in our garden like they do in some other places. This is a Cyclamen coum with its three flowers spread out wide beyond the leaves.
I hope you enjoy these pics.
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What’s going on in your garden (planning), this week?
Baud
In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of weeds.
OzarkHillbilly
Beautiful.
Dorothy A. Winsor
These pics made me happy
WereBear
Scharlockii is one of my favorites!
satby
Beautiful x2! Thanks Mike S.
I got to see my oldest son and his spouse for the first time in 8 months though they only live an hour away in Chicago on Tuesday, and the snowdrops I had planted 20 years ago have spread and were blooming gloriously in my old yard. I may have to sneak back while they’re at work and dig some up to bring here.
satby
@Baud: I bought this for my gardening efforts, since the worst weeds are the spreading ones like creeping charlie.
Baud
@satby:
That looks positively medieval. I like it.
OzarkHillbilly
Something… has been mowing my crocuses. My money is on that wascally wabbit.
I planted 200 Glory of the Snow bulbs last fall and so far 3 have decided to show. WhoopTdoo.
The 50 Spanish Bluebell bulbs are all nosing up out of the ground.
I have yet to espy any of the 25 Trout Lilies, but I wouldn’t expect to for at least 2 more weeks.
satby
@Baud: Yeah, I think it will work better than the usual 3 pronged tool available everywhere. And much cheaper than a similar one in a garden supply catalog that I usually order stuff from.
@OzarkHillbilly: My glory of the snow and squill haven’t even begun to peep out of the ground yet. But the daffodils and tulips are, so today my job will be to vacuum the leaves off the beds because raking will uproot the crocus blooming (I have a blower/vacuum/ mulcher combo tool that I love).
And in AeroGarden news, the tomato seeds finally sprouted (well 4 of 6 did) when I put a seed heating mat under it.I’m ready to move these 4 into peat pots.
Lapassionara
These pictures are wonderful, and I love the idea of the plants as an album.
Scout211
I love the contrast between the colorful flowers and the dead leaves. Great pics!
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I was expecting the G of Snow to show at the same time as the crocuses. Not sure where I got that idea.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
Thanks everyone. Happy Spring!
@WereBear: Actually that last photo of a snow drop is Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’ turned up for easy viewing. I guess I forgot to send the G.n. ‘Scharlocki’ pics to Anne Laurie. They have green on the outside of the outer petals. They are G.n. ‘Scharlocki’ pic1and G.n. ‘Scharlocki’ closeup.
Mary G
Beautiful and I agree about the memories.
debbie
These are wonderful! I can’t think of anything that is more hopeful than the first sighting of snowdrops.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly: Are you neighbors with Rand Paul?
Falling Diphthong
Pennsylvania note: In cruising the twitter this week I learned that the Second Lady of Pennsylvania, Gisele Fetterman, signs her tweets SLOP. I am utterly charmed.
Falling Diphthong
I love the snowdrops.
The crocus information is new and makes sense.
Appreciate these so much, even as one whose gardening is now physically very limited.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Kristine
Lovely photos. I also love the scrapbook concept.
I’m so happy that things are waking up here in NE Illinois. My crocuses were planted by my folks in the 90s, and have been moved around over the years by the squirrels. I’m never quite sure where they’ll turn up.
scav
@OzarkHillbilly: Our Glory of the Snow come after the crocus here in the upper left. And, despite what I once read, they’re coming up at the same time as the squill as well.
Immanentize
@satby:
At my house referred to as the “sucker blower shredder.”
satby
@rikyrah: ?rikyrah!
satby
@Immanentize: must… resist… obvious…comment…
speaking of which, where’s NotMax?
MomSense
Lovely photos, Mike S. We had a warm day yesterday and all the ice finally melted. Hopefully I will get outside and clean the beds up a bit. I have some major indoor chores to do and I’m feeling pretty lazy this morning.
Suzanne
@Falling Diphthong: Gisele Fetterman is utterly charming. I’d kinda prefer to vote for her.
Met with a landscaper last week and he will be putting in some nice colorful plants for me. And a tree. Very excited.
Immanentize
@satby: I think your suck blow shred will also be so associated. I also like the image of you sneaking into a yard on a moonless night to purloin some bulbs from — your children!
Ken
Missouri does border Kentucky, so Ozark and Paul are neighbors in that sense.
Trivia: Missouri and Tennessee are the two states that border the most others, eight each. They also border each other.
Geminid
I have a perennial-hungry customer who will be looking for plants in a couple of weeks. So I sent her a link to the Andre Viette Farm and Nursery in Fishersville, Virginia. The Viettes have been hybridizing daylilies since 1920, and this operation sells 200 varieties, including “everbloomers” that bloom from June until the frost. I don’t know if they ship, but Virginia jackals might enjoy a trip to the Valley. The farm is about seven miles east of Staunton, a couple of miles off I-64.
Viette recommends adding PlantTone organic fertilizer, rock phosphate, and green sand to the soil when planting lilies. He recommends these three soil amendments for just about anything that blooms..
germy
History twitter is my favorite twitter. A thread about the Shell Grotto.
Benw
Crocuses! I get a swath of Tommys every year but I never knew what they were called. They’re always my first sign of spring!
MomSense
@germy:
Love that. Did you see The Dig on Netflix? Not about the shell grotto, but such an interesting story and well told.
debbie
Looking at the volcano (found a live feed which I think is from Iceland) now, the lens is blurred by rain drops, which is probably a good thing.
raven
@MomSense: My friend lived a couple of miles from there when his dad was in the Air Force and he had never heard of it until he saw the movie!
germy
@MomSense:
I missed The Dig. Sounds interesting, though.
Ken
@debbie: Movies have spoiled me. I expect volcanoes to be more cinematic.
NotMax
@satby
Nearly too tuckered out to put words together in coherent sequence. Rains let up (mostly) on Friday and the ground was just dry enough on Saturday for me to (carefully) sneak in a full afternoon of mowing. Most sections were almost waist high while I was sitting on the riding mower, so had to go over the same swaths two or three times in order to properly mulch. And what’s it doing outside right now? Raining; coming down in sheets.
No time to grab a nap before the weekly RPG Zoom gathering last night either, after which barely managed to put together odds ‘n’ ends in a sandwich as late din-din.
MomSense
@raven:
Wow. It was an incredible story. I have no idea if the portrayal of the characters was realistic or not, but I liked the characters so much. Reminded me of the old new Englanders I grew up with. Few words. Always working.
BigJimSlade
Lovely flowers and memories! And, quoting Homer Simpson, “Mmm, purple!”
BigJimSlade
And those tiny propeller flowers are neat! I know it’s hard to get a close up of little things like that – I take pictures of flowers every weekend on our hikes (I live in L.A. – we can hike every weekend, pretty much.)
Kofu
Winter aconites start blooming in February, here in south-east Pennsylvania. They’re spring ephemerals, which survive and thrive in places that are shaded out by April/May. Honey bees will forage on them on sunny days with temperatures in the upper 30s. 40s-50s is standard. By the time temperatures get into the 70s, the flowers are pretty much exhausted, and the bees have other available forage.
Dan B
Nice to see your early blooming bulbs. There was one Snowdrop bloom left yesterday. Good point about Galanthophiles. I once was at a lecture about Snowdrops by some collectors. Many “exciting” differences were nearly microscopic. Keep in mind that most of these have been studied and propagated by Brits who crawl around in chill rain exulting in the differences – a horticultural frenzy.
satby
@NotMax: Oh my! Naps on a rainy day sound like a good thing, so take two!
Nancy
I did and do enjoy your garden pictures, Congressperson Mike. I take many photos of early crocus and snowdrops with my phone and inflict them on tolerant friends and relatives. I say inflict because my pictures are not as good as yours. I like them and I like to see spring on the phone during a dull zoom.
StringOnAStick
Man, I love all your snowdrops and crocus! One lovely thing at our new home is seeing so many bulbs coming up, with lots of crocus and what look to be smaller species tulips.
I’m 95% done with rebuilding one of two flower beds/mounds in the front yard. All the ugly concrete block and curved scalloped soil retention pieces are gone, replaced with lichen covered basalt blocks that I fit together carefully while reducing the height of the mound to something more sustainable, plus extensive removal of many years of invading turf grass. I had to move crocus and daffodil bulbs in several areas because the next mound to tackle is worse and they would have gotten trampled and possibly permanently buried or sliced by shovels. I hope they tolerate it ok.
I found some truly odd looking, brilliant white bulbs that I suspect are Asiatic lilies. One group had spread so much between the driveway and a big rock that it was forcing the whole mass up to the ground surface from the squeeze. An older fellow and his senior chocolate lab walked by and complimented the results of my efforts. I figure the front yard will be the typical landscape plants seen here, and the backyard is where I will let my natives and xeriscaping flag fly.
J R in WV
I have a good friend who taught science at the local rural high school for many years. Did Peace Corps year ago, elderly hippy socialist guy. After he retired he moved to Charleston, and had a tiny house up in the more tony urban neighborhood. Then he and his partner began to plant natives everywhere, in place of the typical grass lawn. Ferns, flowering bushes, dogwood trees, etc. Everywhere was green and beautiful.
But then neighbors (no doubt Republicans!) attempted to get the city on their case accusing them of not keeping their place up to standards, ignoring the fact that tending these native plants was many times more work than pushing a lawn power around every 10-14 days. Failed utterly, thankfully.