Miscellaneous spring bulbs 2012

A wonderful start to a new thread for the year.

That Fritillaria raddeana is very healthy and vigorous!  (As are all your bulbs!)  When I planted seed of this species (and closely realated frits), I was very surprised at their huge size!  The seedlings have a long way to go, and I don't think they are nearly as happy. :-\

RickR wrote:

A wonderful start to a new thread for the year.

That Fritillaria raddeana is very healthy and vigorous!  (As are all your bulbs!)   When I planted seed of this species (and closely realated frits), I was very surprised at their huge size!  The seedlings have a long way to go, and I don't think they are nearly as happy. :-\

Thanks Rick,

about that F. raddeana: it's been in my garden for 3 years now and this year it's flowering in January (the two last years it flowered in March) on a stalk of only 30 cm heigh, while normally it flowers on a stem of at least 50 cm! Probably because of the strange winter we've been having!

Wim, when do you work? With a garden and plants like that I hadn't remembered to go to my job.

Hoy wrote:

Wim, when do you work? With a garden and plants like that I hadn't remembered to go to my job.

I'm unemployed for the moment  :'( So I have time to photograph my plants :-\ and study some languages (something I love a lot too) in between looking for a job!

WimB wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Wim, when do you work? With a garden and plants like that I hadn't remembered to go to my job.

I'm unemployed for the moment  :'( So I have time to photograph my plants :-\ and study some languages (something I love a lot too) in between looking for a job!

Oh so sorry to hear that! But anyway you are lucky to have a nice garden to enjoy while waiting for a job! I thought maybe you were a kind of gardener whose job was his hobby too ;)

Hoy wrote:

WimB wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Wim, when do you work? With a garden and plants like that I hadn't remembered to go to my job.

I'm unemployed for the moment  :'( So I have time to photograph my plants :-\ and study some languages (something I love a lot too) in between looking for a job!

Oh so sorry to hear that! But anyway you are lucky to have a nice garden to enjoy while waiting for a job! I thought maybe you were a kind of gardener whose job was his hobby too ;)

I wish, but no such luck  ;) ;)

Great start to spring! Still months away here, even if it hasn't felt like it ;)

cohan wrote:

Great start to spring! Still months away here, even if it hasn't felt like it ;)

It was a great start but yesterday it started snowing here, we have a layer of about 10 cm of snow now and temperature went down to - 12°C last night!
I think a lot of plants will have had a shock!

Oops! So you got some of that cold weather after all! We will get a couple of colder days this week, but only closer to normal, nothing serious, then back warmer again.. Hope your cold weather, and elsewhere in Europe, does not last!

We also got 10cm of snow yesterday! But the coldest so far in my garden is -7C. As long as the fjord is open it usually doesn't get colder here. But they have had -37C on the other side of the mountains!

Hoy wrote:

We also got 10cm of snow yesterday! But the coldest so far in my garden is -7C. As long as the fjord is open it usually doesn't get colder here. But they have had -37C on the other side of the mountains!

Thank goodness for open water! -37C would not be record breaking for us at this time of year, but the lowest we will see this week is -6day/-15C night, with most days above freezing this week.. normal is -4day/-17C night.. so this is very warm for us...

cohan wrote:

Oops! So you got some of that cold weather after all! We will get a couple of colder days this week, but only closer to normal, nothing serious, then back warmer again.. Hope your cold weather, and elsewhere in Europe, does not last!

Hope so too, but they predict temperatures won't rise above freezing before next Saturday.

Hoy wrote:

We also got 10cm of snow yesterday! But the coldest so far in my garden is -7C. As long as the fjord is open it usually doesn't get colder here. But they have had -37C on the other side of the mountains!

cohan wrote:

Thank goodness for open water! -37C would not be record breaking for us at this time of year, but the lowest we will see this week is -6day/-15C night, with most days above freezing this week.. normal is -4day/-17C night.. so this is very warm for us...

You guys really live in a freezer ;)
Normally we don't get temperatures that go as low as they are now in Belgium (and most certainly not in West-Flanders (where I live) since it's the province which is nearest to the sea)
But I'm not complaining, I can deal a lot better with cold temperatures than with high temperatures....it's just a shame for the plants

So we'll wait a little longer for the next set of spring bulbs.. unless some of our British friends are staying warmer...

No spring in sight here at the moment! Strong wind and snow today but rain tomorrow! And then more cold weather :( :(

cohan wrote:

So we'll wait a little longer for the next set of spring bulbs.. unless some of our British friends are staying warmer...

I guess not, Cohan. Great-Britain has been hit by the snow too!

:(

Nothoscordum felipponei, (Ipheion dialystemon)

Michael wrote:

Nothoscordum felipponei, (Ipheion dialystemon)

This give me the feeling of spring, Michael! No winter in Ireland at the moment?

No winter here yet,just two nights frost at-2c, all spring flowers are in full bloom.

Michael wrote:

No winter here yet,just two nights frost at-2c, all spring flowers are in full bloom.

You are lucky! Seems the rest of Europe has a severe winter :(
However, the weather forecast says milder weather tomorrow here so I hope the snow melts quickly.

Michael wrote:

No winter here yet,just two nights frost at-2c, all spring flowers are in full bloom.

Nice to know someone is getting spring! Still mostly very mild  here- but I don't think you'd find our mild, mild by your standards...lol

Narcissus cyclamineus
Narcissus pseudonarcissus
Narcissus obvallaris
Narcissus bulbocodium filifolius- that's what is says on the label  :-\

Some very welcome harbinger of spring, Michael! I am looking forward to what I'll see in my garden when I get home Saturday ;) Here at our mountain cabin it is snow (not much) and cold (not very cold) but nothing is green!

Hyacinthella dalmatica is starting to show it's color over here!

Very nice, Wim!  It looks like a really tiny thing, perfect for a trough.
Beautiful sunny narcissus, Michael!

Lori wrote:

Very nice, Wim!  It looks like a really tiny thing, perfect for a trough.
Beautiful sunny narcissus, Michael!

Only 5 cm high, Lori..growing in a trough indeed!

You all seem to be having nice spring bulb season starting, and lots of treasures.  Winter temps have been ridiculously warm here, and even with very little snow the ground is not frozen so far down as normal.  I still expect an earlier spring for bulbs.

WimB wrote:

Hyacinthella dalmatica is starting to show it's color over here!

It's a nice one! Must look out for that!

Narcissus obesus x triand
Narcissus obesus x triand

Narcissus minor Douglasbank

Romulea bulbocodium

Some Eranthis are flowering here now:

Eranthis hyemalis
Eranthis hyemalis 'Schwefelglanz'
Eranthis hyemalis 'Grünling'
Eranthis hyemalis 'Schlyters Orange'
and Eranthis x tubergenii 'Guinea Gold'

Always nice to see these "sunny" flowers bloom. I have tried winter aconite in my garden several times but they disappear after a year or two - I suspect slugs. Have some in my garden now planted last fall. Hope they'll survive some years!
I had some of the whiteflowered E pinnatifida for several years but they started dwindling when we had a couple of very dry springs - I grew them at a somewhat dry place too to avoid the slugs :'(

Hoy wrote:

Always nice to see these "sunny" flowers bloom. I have tried winter aconite in my garden several times but they disappear after a year or two - I suspect slugs. Have some in my garden now planted last fall. Hope they'll survive some years!
I had some of the whiteflowered E pinnatifida for several years but they started dwindling when we had a couple of very dry springs - I grew them at a somewhat dry place too to avoid the slugs :'(

I really love these plants, Trond. They bring very early color and over here they are quite easy and perfectly hardy. I've never had a slug or snail eating these plants and I have a lot in the garden (slugs and snails, I mean). Maybe Belgian slugs don't like Eranthis  :rolleyes:
E. pinnatifida can only stand dry weather after it has lost it's leaves, indeed!

Michael, is the Romulea in the open garden or greenhouse?
Wim, like the Eranthis :) I've sown seed of a couple, hope they show up this year :) Is  'Schwefelglanz' a different colour as it appears?

cohan wrote:

Is  'Schwefelglanz' a different colour as it appears?

Cohan, over here 'Schwefelglanz' appears in the colour as you see on the picture, but it turns whiter as it ages!

Thanks, Wim- nice one, then!

Quote:

Michael, is the Romulea in the open garden or greenhouse?

The bulbocodium are outside although I keep a few in a pot as well, all the others are in pots in the greenhouse. Had a lot of them outside but they were getting weedy and popping up everywhere so I keep them in pots for control. Difficult to weed out when they get into good soil.

This is the earliest flowering Chionodixa (now moved to Scilla) luciliae Valentine's Day. Only a week late!

Nice one, Palustris :)

Michael- I guess that pot full of Romulea  looks like it could be a pretty eager plant in the right conditions, so I see why you might need to keep in under wraps!

Michael wrote:

Quote:

Michael, is the Romulea in the open garden or greenhouse?

The bulbocodium are outside although I keep a few in a pot as well, all the others are in pots in the greenhouse. Had a lot of them outside but they were getting weedy and popping up everywhere so I keep them in pots for control. Difficult to weed out when they get into good soil.

Weedy? Do they spread by seed or offsets? If you get too many, don't use the bin ;)

Erythronium dens-canis 'Rose Queen' and Scoliopus bigelovii are starting to flower over here!

Haven't seen any signs of the Erythroniums yet but the Trilliums are showing up now :)

WimB wrote:

Erythronium dens-canis 'Rose Queen' and Scoliopus bigelovii are starting to flower over here!

Nothing is nicer than Erythroniums :) and Scoliopus are very cool!

cohan wrote:

WimB wrote:

Erythronium dens-canis 'Rose Queen' and Scoliopus bigelovii are starting to flower over here!

Nothing is nicer than Erythroniums :) and Scoliopus are very cool!

I have to agree with that!

Hoy wrote:

...the Trilliums are showing up now :)

They are over here too, Trond!

The proof that Eranthis hyemalis can be quite weedy when it likes the place where it grows

The proof is undeniable, Wim.

And most evious, too! 8)

I sowed some Eranthis last year or the year before (my solution to impatience is to not pay too much attention!).. hope I may be able to achieve weedy some day!

cohan wrote:

(my solution to impatience is to not pay too much attention!)

;D ;D

cohan wrote:

hope I may be able to achieve weedy some day!

It takes some time, but it will happen...

My goodness Wim, that's a bounty of Eranthis hyemalis, soon you'll have no grass left ;)

The last two years, no seed produced on my clump of Crocus kosaninii, yet today I find a couple young flowering seedlings of C. kosaninii about 1-2 meters away growing in the lawn; probably 3-year old self-sown plants (typically I've found first flowering on crocus happens in 3-4 years).

In bloom for nearly 2 weeks, is Colchicum doerfleri, shown are two different forms, one with more hirsute leaves and deeper pink flowers.

Last fall I planted some winter aconites. Hope I'll get a large patch!
Scilla rosenii and daffodils are slowly spreading though :D

McDonough wrote:

My goodness Wim, that's a bounty of Eranthis hyemalis, soon you'll have no grass left ;)

I wouldn't mind that, Mark. Less grass to cut!  ;)

More sun today.
Some of the late crocuses are these sieberi-forms

and the last snowdrop ;)

Wonderful plants, Trond...your G. elwesii will get lonely  ;) ;)

A nice wild-type form of Hyacinthus orientalis, which retains an elegance that many of the hybrid selections lack.

The dark blue backs with the lighter blue petal top surface makes a very nice contrast, too.

We have a bed in the middle of the lawn that has gradually developed into one dominated by bulbs. The idea came from visiting Sissinghurst where there is a stunning bulb walk, under pleached limes, which has to be one of the most beautiful plantings ever in April. Ours is more modest!

It is good fun though and is just beginning to show a lot more colour (next year I will plant a lot more crocus which will extend the flowering considerably). Muscari azureum self-seeds strongly and makes nice contrast with the earliest tulip T. neustruevae. It also mixes well with Iris unguicularis 'Cretensis' and Anemone blanda. The iris is a lovely dwarf form but doesn't often flower freely. The bed has a few alpines in it too which have something of the same habit of bulbs, such as Pulsatilla halleri. Later on interest comes from small sun-loving herbaceous plants like Eryngium bourgatii, Acanthus dioscoridis and many sedums. The bed is in the middle of the lawn so could easily be extended...!

Tim, your bulb bed seems very exiting! How do you keep grass from spreading into it?

I'll second that motion, what a nice idea to have a naturalized bulb bed with other plants included.  But I too wonder about maintenance of such a bed.

In the last couple years 3 different types of invasive grasses have taken a foothold in the garden.  Last year, with the new job that I have, and needing to work most weekends, parts of the garden, particularly my "Allium garden" are a disaster, the grasses with aggressive underground rhizomes romping far and wide in every direction, that I fear the only solution is to dig up the whole thing, extract the good plants from amongst the invading network of rhizomes, and rebuild the garden.  But given no change in my current utterly crazy job, and so far the inability to find a different more normal job, it looks like this year will be even more disasterous for parts of the garden.

Love those white Crocus, Trond!

Tim, the bulb walk is nice! Can we see an overview to get an idea of how it fits into/is separated from the lawn?

Mark,
Re rampaging grasses, I haven't had the courage yet myself, but you might try one of the grass killers that is sold to be used "over the top" of other plants.
Even Round-Up seems to kill grass better than most plants.  Doesn't touch Veronica "Georgia Blue" and I've deliberately hit it 4 times.

Otherwise you might focus Round - Up on tufts of grass and hope it translocates.

Charles Swanson MA USA

Charles, I'm with you, I don't have the courage to try chemicals like that. 

The grasses are so intertwined with the plants, it seems hard to believe that a dousing of some chemical wouldn't also risk damaging the plants.  I think I'm going to use this unfortunate infiltration of grasses as motivation to revamp parts of the garden.  In year 2000, I did exactly that to my main "Allium garden", totally redid it after it was claimed by blackberries, tree seedlings and such, all due to neglect; available time perpetually denied by a demanding job and ridiculous daily commute that steals away my life.

Some spring-bulbs in flower over here:

Corydalis solida 'Frodo'
Erythronium dens-canis 'Pink Perfection'
Narcissus 'Jetfire'
Narcissus 'Toby the First'
Corydalis solida 'Falls of Nimrodel'
Erythronium dens-canis 'Old Aberdeen'
Erythronium dens-canis 'Charmer'
Erythronium oregonum subsp. leucandrum
Hyacinthoides italica

Corydalis solida and other woodland Corydalis species are among my favorites.
Here are some colour forms of C solida:

Love Corys :)
Wim- the leaves alone on those Erythroniums are fantastic!

Spring is nearly passing me by, just no time with my ridiculous work schedule, so I'm late in responding to topics on the forum.

Wim, I am certainly charmed by Erythronium dens-canis 'Charmer', the genus overall is such a wonderful one full of the most elegant bulbous plants ever, yet, aside from my utterly non-blooming running E. americanum, I don't have any of these beauties in my garden, something I need to remedy.  Also, I really like Corydalis solida 'Nimrodel', unusual to have a pale face to the deep color blooms.

Trond, nice variety to your Corydalis solida forms.

Here's one that I grow in full sun, where it has slowly built up into a large clump, Leucojum aestivum. I like that it blooms much later than snowdrops and L. vernum.  It's tall too, so makes an impression in the garden.  I didn't include an overall view of the plant, as the area is a weedy mess still awaiting spring cleanup :rolleyes:

McDonough wrote:

I didn't include an overall view of the plant, as the area is a weedy mess still awaiting spring cleanup :rolleyes:

Mark

Sounds as our garden after the plant-shows  ;D

R

McDonough wrote:

Spring is nearly passing me by, just no time with my ridiculous work schedule, so I'm late in responding to topics on the forum.

Here's one that I grow in full sun, where it has slowly built up into a large clump, Leucojum aestivum. I like that it blooms much later than snowdrops and L. vernum.  It's tall too, so makes an impression in the garden.  I didn't include an overall view of the plant, as the area is a weedy mess still awaiting spring cleanup :rolleyes:

Spring is definitely not over yet, not here anyway, as we have half a year spring, 1 day summer, half a year fall and a week of winter ;D

A weedy mess?! What's that! Sounds very familiar though ;D ;D
The L aestivum is still only budding here.

Does this qualify as a "bulb lawn"?

P.S. Apologies to anyone who may be horrified by the proliferation of Scilla siberica and Puschkinia in these photos, but I have to admit that this was the goal of planting many hundreds of bulbs in the past.  :)

Lori wrote:

Does this qualify as a "bulb lawn"?

P.S. Apologies to anyone who may be horrified by the proliferation of Scilla siberica and Puschkinia in these photos, but I have to admit that this was the goal of planting many hundreds of bulbs in the past.  :)

Where is the grass?  ;)

Nobody can be horrified of this!

Hoy wrote:

Where is the grass?  ;)

Long gone (and not missed)!!   ;D

Hoy wrote:

Nobody can be horrified of this!

Glad to hear it!  Seeing this bloom, common though the bulbs are, is part of the whole magic of spring for us!

Lori wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Where is the grass?  ;)

Long gone (and not missed)!!   ;D

Hoy wrote:

Nobody can be horrified of this!

Glad to hear it!  Seeing this bloom, common though the bulbs are, is part of the whole magic of spring for us!

Common or rare - doesn't matter. One of my favorite spring plants is the "weed" coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara). However, it was more of a spring flower when I lived in Oslo than here. Still I am looking for it every spring ;D

I am only horrified it they are where they are not wanted.  In your "lawn", Lori, they are very nice!  But in the local woodland, competing with native flora, not so good. :'(

Ornithogalum reverchonii from Spain starts flowering

Roland

Nice Ornithogalum, Roland!

Here Bellevalia romana is in flower...it seeds itself in the garden but I don't mind!

Bad thing
Who wants to buy Ornithogalum
I like it but nobody buys it
I took it out of my assortiment

Nice weed Wim ;D
I know a lot worse and less attractive ones

Roland

bulborum wrote:

Bad thing
Who wants to buy Ornithogalum
I like it but nobody buys it
I took it out of my assortiment

I grow it, but that's probably because I have weird tastes  ;) ;)  :rolleyes:

bulborum wrote:

Nice weed Wim ;D
I know a lot worse and less attractive ones

Roland

I agree  ;)

bulborum wrote:

Bad thing
Who wants to buy Ornithogalum
I like it but nobody buys it
I took it out of my assortment

I grow it, but that's probably because I have weird tastes  ;) ;)  :rolleyes:[/quote]

Probably the same for me
I sold last year 3 bulbs  :o

WimB wrote:

bulborum wrote:

Bad thing
Who wants to buy Ornithogalum
I like it but nobody buys it
I took it out of my assortiment

I grow it, but that's probably because I have weird tastes  ;) ;)  :rolleyes:

bulborum wrote:

Nice weed Wim ;D
I know a lot worse and less attractive ones

Roland

I agree  ;)

Probably the same for me
I sold last year 3 bulbs  :o

Lori wrote:

Does this qualify as a "bulb lawn"?

P.S. Apologies to anyone who may be horrified by the proliferation of Scilla siberica and Puschkinia in these photos, but I have to admit that this was the goal of planting many hundreds of bulbs in the past.  :)

Looking great, Lori- love to see these expanses of flowers, and Scilla is a big favourite- I used to search out several nice patches in Toronto..
Roland, I think little danger to the native flora here- my mom planted some many years ago, but there was no sign of them, before long, I think they can only survive here if kept well clear  of grass and native plants!
I have some seedlings I need to make a place for, and I think some are coming up in a bed that had a very poor show last year- I think its been too wet after snowmelt, but I tried to re-direct the meltwater more this year...

cohan wrote:

Roland, I think little danger to the native flora here

Cohen it wasn't me but Rick
I am not so afraid for the nature
biggest mistake from the nature was creating humen
we destroyed the last 150 years more
as the nature build up in the last billion years  :o

Roland

Wim, a most handsome Bellevalia, a genus totally absent from my garden, need to work on that :)

Roland, I guess I'm among the few that link Ornithogalum, I find it to be an intriguing genus.

Lori, nice seas in shades of blue (Scilla & Puschkinia), I think I'm heading in this direction; that is, larger expanses of realiable color.

Here's one of my favorites; a totally reliable slow grower, Brodiaea grandiflora ssp. howellii, in my favorite color, pale milky blue.  Got a couple bulbs from Jane McGary, 8-9 years ago, and it flowers every year, atop 16-18" tall stems that sway in the breeze (requiring holding the stems to have any chance at a clear photo).  I now have some in-place-sown seedlings coming along, yay!  I didn't notice the ant on the flower until I was resizing images tonight.

bulborum wrote:

cohan wrote:

Roland, I think little danger to the native flora here

Cohen it wasn't me but Rick
I am not so afraid for the nature
biggest mistake from the nature was creating humen
we destroyed the last 150 years more
as the nature build up in the last billion years  :o
Roland

Oops! Sorry, usually try to get my quotes right...lol
Yes, mother nature is probably regretting her human experiment!

BTW, I also like the Ornithogalum :) I don't have any here- just a couple SA species indoors (at least one of which is probably Albuca, anyway..lol)  .. wouldn't mind trying the hardiest one or two outdoors..

Very nice Brodiaea grandiflora ssp. howellii Mark
if you have one day some seeds or small bulbs  :rolleyes:

The Ornithogalum reverchonii survived here -13ºC in a pot
but was killed last winter at -15ºC  :(
I can pollinate a few flowers if you want

Roland

bulborum wrote:

Very nice Brodiaea grandiflora ssp. howellii Mark
if you have one day some seeds or small bulbs  :rolleyes:

The Ornithogalum reverchonii survived here -13ºC in a pot
but was killed last winter at -15ºC  :(
I can pollinate a few flowers if you want

Roland

-15 is only early fall here....lol.. probably I'll have to try another-- maybe the one they call Star of Bethlehem (unless that refers to several) which I know is actually weedy in zone 4 U.S.

bulborum wrote:

The Ornithogalum reverchonii survived here -13ºC in a pot
but was killed last winter at -15ºC  :(

Roland

The -15ºC was in a pot
what means that they can handle a lot more in the soil
snowdrops for example die earlier in a pot

Roland

I do grow several Ornithogalums! And I try to establish some self-sowing ones in my garden. I wouldn't mind trying Bellavalia either - have tried one or two species though.
Brodiaea isn't easy here. Don't like the climate or the slugs (or the slugs like it too much probably) I assume.

However Muscari latifolia do self sow a little in the woodland but not alarmingly. Scilla liliohyacinthus also do spread. Have to remove some bulbs as they are  too crowded for maximum flowering now. Erythronium 'White Beauty' seems to like the woodland setting.

Roland, true about pots- many things that are hardy here will not survive sitting out in small pots.. A shocking exception is a native Ribes, which sprouted in an old hanging basket sitting on a bench under a spruce tree- so first of all, its dry most of the time, and second, completely exposed all year- and growing just fine! I'll reward it with a spot in the soil somewhere...

Trond- a little manageable spreading is exactly what you want from bulbs :) I have Muscari doing very nicely in my first 'spring bed' but its not really early here at all, flowering in June.. I guess yours flowering now is also quite a while after your early bulbs.

Yes, these are late bloomers. And here are my "bulb lawn" now: Just the leaves of crocus and snowdrops and dandelions and a few tulips!

Your late bloomers, and my earliest things are only up a couple of inches...lol Nice tulips!
I have seedlings of sprengeri to find a place to plant this year...

cohan wrote:

I have seedlings of sprengeri to find a place to plant this year...

Here the first flower-buds from T. sprengeri are just visible
I love this late tulip
you don't expect tulip flowers so late

Also Tulipa Ice Cream just starts colouring
I still don't know if I like it
It is so ugly that maybe I like it

Roland

Ice cream or lollipop? It is a sweet thing anyway ;)

I guess too soon to say what 'Ice Cream' will look like.... Tulips are one of the few types of flowers that I don't mind seeing (some)outrageous foms on, (maybe because they are in old Dutch paintings!) although I'm not sure what I would do with them in the garden (probably nothing, unless I had a bed just for 'cottage garden' type flowers)...

I will post in a few weeks a proper picture
less pale and as a real ice cream

Roland

Sometimes we garden according to necessity, and not in compliance with plant growth schedules: I decided I needed to rid this part of the garden of infesting Quack grass where Tulipa tarda was clearly not wanting to go dormant yet.  

           A pic taken of the tulips back on 24 April.
         

I was quite surprised (1 May) to see how much the new bulbs had already formed for the following year.  The flowers hardly had time to dry up, and next years sprouts were already well formed.

Always interesting to see what's going on with parts of plants we can't see!

RickR wrote:

Sometimes we garden according to necessity, and not in compliance with plant growth schedules: I decided I needed to rid this part of the garden of infesting Quack grass where Tulipa tarda was clearly not wanting to go dormant yet.  
A pic taken of the tulips back on 24 April.
       
I was quite surprised (1 May) to see how much the new bulbs had already formed for the following year.  The flowers hardly had time to dry up, and next years sprouts were already well formed.

I've often seen it on the wild onion here (Allium vineale). They form new bulbs very early. I think they play safe and store energy for next year as quickly as they can in case the weather gets bad (drought for instance).

Just yesterday I cooked with our native wild Prairie onion, Allium stellatum (freshly dug), and my last Lilium davidii bulb held over in the fridge from last fall.  Too early for that allium to show new bulb growth.  It'll be a long time before it flowers in mid summer.  Trond, does Allium vineale  go dormant in summer?

RickR wrote:

Just yesterday I cooked with our native wild Prairie onion, Allium stellatum (freshly dug), and my last Lilium davidii bulb held over in the fridge from last fall.   Too early for that allium to show new bulb growth.  It'll be a long time before it flowers in mid summer.  Trond, does Allium vineale  go dormant in summer?

Rick, did you have the heart to eat it :o
And yes, A vineale goes dormant in summer. That is, the leaves wilt but the stem with a few flowers and lots of bulbils stays for all summer more or less green. When I was a child we played with it pretending it was real onions for dinner but we were never allowed to eat them. My grandma said they were poisonous.

More pictures of Scilla liliohyacinthus. I think I'll have some spare bulbs later if anybody is interested.

Hoy wrote:

Rick, did you have the heart to eat it :o

Of Course!  Many lilies, like L. davidii, are quite robust.  There is really no need to coddle them to get them to reproduce, and this species is very easy to clean if the bulbs are not too old.

Quote:

And yes, A vineale goes dormant in summer. That is, the leaves wilt but the stem with a few flowers and lots of bulbils stays for all summer more or less green. When I was a child we played with it pretending it was real onions for dinner but we were never allowed to eat them. My grandma said they were poisonous.

I wonder if that is true ???

I'd take seed of that Scilla, Trond, if you get any...

Crow Garlic, Allium vineale, is edible.  There are reports of a number of species of Allium, including regular garlic or Allium sativum, of having some toxicity when eaten in large quantities. Allium vineale is found as an invasive in approximately 1/2 of North America, and is listed on many States noxiopus weeds lists.  It is very invasive here, and considered very difficult to eradicate.  It will infest lawns, where eradication is nearly impossible.  Bad onion!

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Allium+vineale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_vineale
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALVI&mapType=nativity&photoID...

RickR wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Rick, did you have the heart to eat it :o

Of Course!  Many lilies, like L. davidii, are quite robust.  There is really no need to coddle them to get them to reproduce, and this species is very easy to clean if the bulbs are not too old.

Quote:

And yes, A vineale goes dormant in summer. That is, the leaves wilt but the stem with a few flowers and lots of bulbils stays for all summer more or less green. When I was a child we played with it pretending it was real onions for dinner but we were never allowed to eat them. My grandma said they were poisonous.

I wonder if that is true ???

I'd take seed of that Scilla, Trond, if you get any...

I have found out that she was wrong, indeed! She said it to teach us not to eat unknown plants in general and she probably had in mind another similar plant usually found farther south which actually is toxic.

Seed shouldn't be difficult to get. I'll keep you in mind (I hope!)

That's a very pretty Scilla, Trond, very lush :)
I don't know Allium vineale, but that reminds me of my childhood- we were told almost all berries were poisonous- except the obvious wild raspberries and strawberries.. gooseberries not poisononous but we were told they were usually full of worms so leave them alone... (still not sure about that!).. same idea- too hard to be sure what a bunch of kids are eating in the fields and bush!

Well Tulipa Ice-cream is a disaster
when you have a lot of rain
hope next year they look better

Roland

bulborum wrote:

.....hope next year they look better

Roland

the gardener's hope and comfort!

Roland, even single tulips often get messy here!

Flowering off and on for the last two months Gagea fibrosa --close up of the small starry yellow flowers .Very easy from seed.

Yummy Anemone pavonina red.

Cheers Dave.

Mmm..  Really nice, Dave.  Both are "must tries".  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Dave, are you in full spring yet, or are these late winter plants for you? Great colour on the Anemone :)

Funny you should mention that Cohan . Just sitting here having the morning cuppa and thinking "Yep , it's spring now , the weather is turning nasty " . Usually this weather deterioration coincides with lambing ( which it has done ) . Going down to Dave's on a pilgrimmage run in a couple of weeks with my parents to see his very cool garden

Jandals wrote:

Funny you should mention that Cohan . Just sitting here having the morning cuppa and thinking "Yep , it's spring now , the weather is turning nasty " . Usually this weather deterioration coincides with lambing ( which it has done ) . Going down to Dave's on a pilgrimmage run in a couple of weeks with my parents to see his very cool garden

Could I join you :D  Well, it's too long a travel :(    Here the weather is very autumn-ish at the moment - rain and westerly winds.But the temp isn't bad though, I still wear jandals ;D
I don't think Anemone pavonina would do a good figure in  my garden - too wet for it's liking I presume - but maybe the Gagea would?

So if your are going down to Dave's, you are then farther north- does that generally mean warmer? or is that direction offset by other factors?
We are mixing summery and near fall weather, but nights are getting chilly, and we are already seeing a hint of the fall windy weather..
I'm hoping to plant some spring bulbs if I find anything decent locally, but other than that, they will be many months away!

Howey wrote:

Mmm..  Really nice, Dave.  Both are "must tries".  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Thanks Fran.

Hoy wrote:

Jandals wrote:

Funny you should mention that Cohan . Just sitting here having the morning cuppa and thinking "Yep , it's spring now , the weather is turning nasty " . Usually this weather deterioration coincides with lambing ( which it has done ) . Going down to Dave's on a pilgrimmage run in a couple of weeks with my parents to see his very cool garden

Could I join you :D   Well, it's too long a travel :(    Here the weather is very autumn-ish at the moment - rain and westerly winds.But the temp isn't bad though, I still wear jandals ;D
I don't think Anemone pavonina would do a good figure in  my garden - too wet for it's liking I presume - but maybe the Gagea would?

You'd be most welcome to visit Trond ....I'll have the kettle boiling  ;)
The Gagea only survives in a pot for me whereas i have different coloured forms of Anemone pavonina in various places in the garden.

cohan wrote:

So if your are going down to Dave's, you are then farther north- does that generally mean warmer? or is that direction offset by other factors?
We are mixing summery and near fall weather, but nights are getting chilly, and we are already seeing a hint of the fall windy weather..
I'm hoping to plant some spring bulbs if I find anything decent locally, but other than that, they will be many months away!

I'm about 90 mins travel souwest along the coast from Steve --he will be a bit drier and sunnier ,maybe just as windy  :-\ .....

Cheers Dave.

Romulea columnae subsp. grandiscapa ,(syn.Romulea hartungii ),from the Canary Islands .

Cheers Dave.

Toole wrote:

You'd be most welcome to visit Trond ....I'll have the kettle boiling  ;)
The Gagea only survives in a pot for me whereas i have different coloured forms of Anemone pavonina in various places in the garden.

Cheers Dave.

Thanks Dave ;D I'll tell you in advance but it won't be too soon ;)

Maybe I should try some of those anemones though! I do grow Gagea lutea in my garden but it is prone to slug damage :-\

Eastern European sources of bulbs:
In the NE USA, I've had problems with UK bulbs not thriving, some likely not suitable for climate, next season I plan to buy some from E Europe.

Lithuania:

Augis Bulbs -- http://www.augisbulbs.com

Lithuanian Rare Bulb Garden -- http://www.litbulbgarden.com

Latvia:

Rare Bulb Nursery Latvia (Ruksans &  Popova)  -- http://rarebulbs.lv/index.php/en/
-- interesting, low "drone" filming of nursery -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZJBgewSSRI

Those in the USA should be reminded to look at Odyssey Bulbs -- http://www.odysseybulbs.com.
 

Charles Swanson, New England USA