SPRING BULBS

I am in two minds over which spring bulbs will be in my garden next year. I have to weigh up how they look for weeks after the bloom has finished. I know the large public gardens and parks yank their bulbs when they are over, planting new ones every year. For me that is not an option. Or is it? I had never thought of doing this myself.
I have a few favorites which I think are definitely worthwhile leaving in the ground. Number one is the Species tulip Tulipa clusiana, Lady Jane.

Originating from the rocky poor soils of Afghanistan and the Caucuses, it is ideally suited to the poor, dry, limey soils of the Texas Hill Country. It naturalizes well and although I was told the seed are not viable it pops up in several places away from the original bulbs so I think it does reseed occasionally. And the seed pods are what makes the plant tolerable during its bulb regeneration mode. They are one of the few bulbs where I leave the seed pods to mature. It doesn't seem to harm them.
I have tried several of the species tulips including Tulipa clusiana Cynthia, and Tulipa humilis, Persian Pearl, but none return quite so faithfully as Lady Jane.
The flowers close up in the evening and in the early morning their pretty pink undersides are visible until the flowers open once again.

The spring star flower, Ipheion uniform, a native of Argentina and Uruguay, will always be a keeper. It's short grassy leaves are easily hidden among summer growth. It is a great plant for the front of the border.

Why is this next bulb called summer snowflake? It is one of the first spring blooms arriving at the same time as snowdrops in northern climates. The blooms of Leucojum aestivum are similar to the nodding blooms of snowdrops and last for at least two weeks. I have never divided this large clump so I may try to divide 'in the green' this year.

Each of the nodding tepals carries a characteristic green dot.

I love the fragrance of the narcissus family, particularly those with multiple flowers but once the flowers are gone their wide strappy leaves become rather messy as spring progresses. I find the blooms to be fleeting and often damaged by heavy rainfall and late frosts. Maybe they are best grown in a pot where they can be removed from the garden after the blooms die. That is what I did with my paper whites this year.

But it's hard to resist the fragrance of Narcissus tazetta 'Erlicheer' with its double flowers and sometimes as many as 6 flowers on each stem.

and the pretty delicate flowers of Narcissus 'Thalia'

Or this unknown multi-flowered stem.

I certainly have preference for the multi-stemmed flowers with the later flowers Narcissus 'Cheerfulness' yet to bloom.
My personal feeling is that the perfect place for daffodils in in a woodland setting or in grasslands where their foliage can be left to die back. Will I have the heart to pull mine out? I really don't think I have it in me.

EARLY SPRING

I have never looked upon early February as being spring before. Usually our first spring bloomer is the Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens. And yes, this year it is just starting to bloom.

But our warm weather has brought a host of plants to challenge this spring bloomer. Many are the flowering bulbs, like Ipheion uniflorum with its star-shaped blue flowers.

iph

And the summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum, the southern answer to the snowdrop. Why is it not called the spring snowflake?

Both theses are about a month early this year and today a solitary flower on the blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium sp. caught my eye. These are native to this area and now grow in the garden from gathered seed. This year is going to be a spectacular year for them as favorable conditions have meant an explosion in the number of plants with their iris-like leaves. Hopefully their bloom will not be spoilt by the unseasonably warm temperatures.

I dragged the citrus out of their winter home because I could see flowers beginning to develop. Within a few days this one plant was in full bloom. This was a plant I had root pruned last year and had only one or two lemons. I think it is going to make up for the this year as long as we don't see a hard freeze.

The bees have been busy for days and I can already see tiny lemons forming.

There are still plenty of lemons on the other trees and tonight, for dessert, we had crêpes drizzled with sugar and lemon juice. No need to wait for Shrove Tuesday this year.

Growing up, as I did, on the west coast of England there was never a time when I asked for it to rain. Quite the contrary I was always asking for it not to rain. As those rain-laden winds blew off the Irish Sea and rose to climb over the Pennines, they dropped their rain. But here in Texas, with no rain for weeks,  I have been praying for rain and it looks as though finally we will get some. It may be too late for some plants. My Lady Banks rose has already started blooming but the the blooms are small and many quickly dried up in the heat.

There is still the white Lady Banks in the back garden. Lots of buds but no open flowers.
And yes, the rain came. Only and inch but maybe some more next week. For now Spring continues.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY MARCH 2014

Welcome to March in my garden, which is far from being its normal self following a terrible freeze just over a week ago. We are not used to having a temperature as low as 20° at this time of the year and it has taken its toll on Southern gardens. Despite this, there are some plants who just don't care and they are the ones blooming today.

In the early morning Tulipa clusiana Lady Jane showing her underskirts.

An hour later she begins her show,

Until finally her petals are fully open. In Texas these are the only tulips that can be grown successfully, naturalizing and returning whatever the weather. I think they are sorely under utilized.

This large agarita bush, Mahonia trifoliata, was just a little behind some of the others and so her blossoms managed to survive unscathed. There is an intense honey fragrance on the air today.

A cluster of unknown narcissi on the corner of the once named Spanish oak garden. I shall be sorry when their blooming finishes because they have just been magnificent this year. I think the spring bulbs have benefited from our very cold winter.

Viburnum 'Spring bouquet' Has been its most magnificent this year.

Close up of viburnum flowers.

Ipheion

Summer snowfake, Leucojum aestivum.

Narcissi with California poppy.

First buds on the stocks.

Gopher plant, Euphorbia rigida

Erigeron daisy.

The first of many bluebonnets to come. Please join Carol at Maydreams to share your March blooms.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY FEB,15th 2013

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day already! If I hadn't spotted someone else posting about their bloom day I would likely have missed it. So in haste....

The iris are still blooming and every time I walk by the peach iI smell her subtle fragrance.

There is a wonderful fragrance from the Meyer lemon blossoms as they begin their first bloom cycle.

Look how many there are to come.

The longest lasting flowers I know are on the Mother of Thousands. I had some cut flowers in the house and they lasted over 3 weeks. These are in the greenhouse.

A few blooms on the drought stricken Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens.

Ipheion

Summer snowflakes, Leucojum

Viburnum 'spring bouquet'

And daisy fleabane.
There are lots of violas and stocks but these were fairly recent purchases so not included here.
Hope you are having a great bloom day. Hop on over to our hostess Carol at May Dreams  to see what is blooming in other gardens around the world.

FIRSTS

It seems rather incongruous that violets would bloom in my garden. After all, they are woodland flowers, usually found in damp conditions and my garden is decidedly non woodland. But today I saw my first flower on this violet I bought a couple of years ago, when the garden bloggers visited Madrone Nursery. I know it has flowered before because there are little seedlings growing around it but I always managed to miss the flowers in the past.

Among the sweetly scented stocks, the first swallowtail butterfly of the year. He didn't seem to mind at all that I was hovering over him to catch his photo. He'll be paying a visit to my parsley before long.

The first of the summer snowflakes, Leucojum aestivum are blooming in the English garden.

In the same bed, a new addition last winter, a small flowered narcissus. Surely now that I have bought some metal markers, I won't lose the names of the varieties I plant. It doesn't really seem important until you come to write about the plant and have no idea what the cultivar is.