The Large Cupped Narcissus 'Juanita' floats in the air above the smaller inhabitants. I know this is 'Juanita' because she is one of the few with a name tag.
Back in November when I planted the bulb care packages I received from Elizabeth and Hank at my own garden next door, I wasn't really certain how some of them would do in the long term. Would they keep coming back and multiply? Would they get ett up by the varmints? The care packages included bulbs that are now coming up at the resident gardeners place. I can now tell Elizabeth with assurance that Chionodoxa forbesii will grow with abandon here.
Down in the wild woods other new things are coming up. This is unidentified at the moment. It looks suspiciously like Panax trifolius, Dwarf Ginseng, but the flower buds are not looking right.
I have decided that my previous unknown white flower and new leaves in the woods both belong to Anemone americana, Hepatica or Liverwort. A closer inspection yielded some of the same flowers with the new leaves and dried leaves from last year of the Hepatica. Mostly they seem to be putting up new leaves or flowers, not both at the same time on the same plant.
Another orchid was discovered. This one is Tipularia discolor, Crane-Fly Orchid. The underside of the leaf is quite purple. It is another orchid that has a leaf in the winter and blooms in the summer after the leaf has faded.
Back at the ridge top garden, the first of what looks like a Hyacinth has shown up.
This is another unknown for now. It is looking lily like in it's leaf arrangement.
Hank sent me some of the Puschkinia libanotica bulbs in his care package. Now I can tell him that they will also grow here with abandon. These small bulbs are popping up all over the place. That would be called naturalizing I suppose.
Some have larger flower stalks than others. It would be hard to tell if this is an age related issue from self seeding or an environmental soil/location issue. Who cares? They are everywhere.
If you add them all up, these "minor bulbs" are competing in numbers with the Daffodils. The Hyacinthoides hispanica alone may out number the Daffodils and they have yet to begin to bloom.
There's only 9,500 Daffodils left to go.
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8 comments:
What an unusual landscape this is! You're providing the world with the most fascinating garden blog experience right now.
(That and $2 will get you a cuppa at Starbucks.)
There's a botanical word for "has a leaf in the winter and blooms in the summer after the leaf has faded" but I can't remember what it is right now.
The confirmation word is "vvile". Must be thinking of another blog.
Hooray for the minor bulbs. I need to plant more of them, but they kind of get lost with the larger daffs. Are yours in a different area? I am really excited about your spring wildflowers. There is unlimited potential on that hillside for some realy treasures, and you are so good at identifying them!
Frances
At what Starbucks can you get a cuppa for $2? Maybe I just know Hawaii prices.
Frances the minor bulbs are also scattered hither and yon, mingled with the rest of the bulbs, from self seeding and hitch hikers I think from transplanting bulbs. I have found two daffodil bulbs sitting on top of the ground that must have been dropped last fall.
The ridge top is a bit over an acre and the Daffodils stretch from one end to the other. It is very much a wild garden, like walking through a mountain meadow, from a bit of intentional design and benign neglect. There is also an extensive collection of Rhododendron and other shrubs and I have fussed at the resident gardeners a bit for letting the shrubs get over powered by some of the wild things. You know who will be cleaning out the shrub borders this spring and summer.
Are you sure that tooth-leaved mystery plant isn't "Weed"? :^) I love the little bulbs, especially Pushkinia, with it's sky blue petals.
I'm glad to see the Pushkinia blooming. It is small... but lovely to me.
Puschkinia libanotica
Libanotica means "of Lebanon"
It appears we have some Puschkinia "clydotica"
H
Hi Christopher;
I've been away but was excited to see your picture of Tipularia; it is the only wild orchid besides Cypripedium acaule that I have found in my woods here in Va. I wanted to mention that I have found considerable leaf variation in different colonies here; in the degree and number of the "warts" (for lack of the official word) on the top side of the leaf, and I even found one population which had some purple coloration on both sides of the leaf. I will be interested in your explorations whether you find similar variations.
bev
Hank it would not surprise me that in a few generations a Puschkinia clydotica could show up. There are enough near kin up here for that to happen.
Pam I have already seen one Tipularia leaf that was completely smooth, no warts at all. I have been told there is Galearis spectabilis, Showy Orchis up here some where. No Lady's Slipper though. Lucky you.
Your posts are so fun to read, it's like enjoying your Christmas presents with you as they're unwrapped!
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