Early Bulbs

The first daffodils to bloom in my gardens are always these against the east side of my house, where it's warm, sunny and protected. These started blooming on March 31st this year, at least two weeks ahead of last year. In other less protected and less sunny areas, the daffodil foliage is barely out of the ground so far. Yay for microclimates!

Early bulbs are one of the cheeriest sights of spring, and I've been trying to plant more of them in places where they'll bloom as early as possible, to be able to enjoy the glories of spring as soon as possible each year. This year we've had a fairly warm, early spring (unlike last year's interminable winter), so I've been surprised and delighted by all the bulbs that have started flowering here in the past week:

These crocus are shaded by being planted on the north side of these boxwood bushes, so they are blooming a few weeks later than those I had in a sunny bed, which were in flower by March 12 this year.

I planted 100 of these tiny winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) last fall, and I was happy that they bloomed this year, as I had read that sometimes they take several years to flower. I hope they will naturalize and increase in numbers.

These striped squill (Puschkinia libanotica) are also
very small, cute little bulbs and have bloomed every spring
since I planted them in autumn 2011.

Several of the Puschkinia in a group.

These yellow crocus (Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks') are one of the first things to bloom in my new Yellow Garden, although again, they are much later than the earliest crocus to bloom elsewhere in my gardens. This area is on the north side of my house and had snow covering it for longer than nearly anywhere else in my yard.

The biggest surprise was when I discovered these hyacinths flowering already, blooming in the front of my North Border. (I didn't notice them until this evening and had to use the flash for this photo, so the color isn't very good.) I planted these several years ago, so they have decreased in vigor, but I still enjoy their flowers and for some reason these ones are already flowering when the hyacinths I planted in other areas are only half out of the ground.

These rock garden iris (Iris danfordiae) are also blooming in my Yellow Garden. This is the first time I have planted these; they are much tinier (only 4" tall) than the tall beaded iris that I am used to growing, but also much earlier (which is good!). 

I had to include a photo of these tulips, which aren't actually blooming yet. But they already have heads on them, so it probably won't be long until they flower. They are planted in a very sunny south-facing border against a wall, so they are way ahead of my other tulips which only show foliage right now.

Additionally, I just planted some Wood Squill (Scilla siberica, the Spring Beauty variety I believe) that I dug from another garden today; they are another early-flowering bulb and I have planted them in a sunny spot near the Striped squill.

These early flowering bulbs have shown me the importance of choosing sunny spots where the snow melts off first to plant them, in order to get some flowers as early as possible. This is particularly important for those of us who live in the colder growing zones. (It also helps to have a nice early spring like we have had in the Midwest this year....)

I hope you are enjoying many cheerful spring blooms in your own gardens this spring. Thanks for reading! -Beth