Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Other Bulbs

Down at Client #1's today the Hyacinth are blooming. They have a good number of them. There is only one I think here on the mountain. I don't know why that is. Over the three springs I have been watching, the Hyacinth seem to return rather well. These I did plant last fall. Others I know I did not plant.



I did not plant these Chionodoxa forbesii 'Blue Giant' either. I really have no way of knowing if other bulbs are being slipped into the ground behind my back. I can usually tell when someone else has been working in the garden and Client #1 is know to do that, time permitting.

Over a decade's time countless bulbs have been slipped into the ground. They don't always fare well and there is a fair percentage of mortality. I have a very bad feeling about this year's tulips. I could swear one bed of tulips was up and looking good before I went to Maui. Today it was sparse, near empty. Some of the existing foliage was looking discolored and I gave them the gentlest of tugs. The still curled tiny leaves were not attached to a bulb and pulled right out of the ground. I did that several times. It looked like something had chewed through it. I have a very bad feeling about this year's tulips.

Thank goodness I planted a sack of daffodils in that bed last fall.



Back up on the mountain the minor bulbs are beginning to show. The big patch of Puschkinia libanotica is making headway against the leaf litter.



The crocus are coming to a close. The petals have lost their perfection and are beginning to crumple and wither.



They are a good warm up act and getting better every year,



Now the show really begins. The first daffodil has opened on March 30th, 21 days, three weeks later than the first daffodil of 2009. Obviously spring is running a little behind. Now is one supposed to hope it tries to catch up or continues in an even steady cool progression. I vote for a cool steady progression. We had a heavy snow the second week of April last year that flattened the Bulbapaloozathon as it was peaking.



I just know it is bound to snow again and would hate for everything to bolt into bloom now.



Spring is here. May it drag on as long as the winter did.

5 comments:

Lola said...

Hooray for Spring---may she linger longer. Love the cool weather. Maybe we will see 80ยบ by Fri. Haven't seen that temp yet this yr.
Sounds like something has gotten to the tulips. Do you suspect varmints of some kind?

Christopher C. NC said...

Lola we are scheduled to have four sunny days in a row reaching to 70. It is almost a miracle. I do suspect something may have eaten the bulb or some grub is chewing on the new growth. About all those sticks. I toss them in piles over the fence or off into the really wild forest. The birds really like the brush piles.

Cyndy said...

Daffodils save a lot of situations as we hold our breath to see what will happen next - in the Northeast we're battered by torrential rain, but I can see the cheerful daffs are smiling, if a bit bent!

Siria said...

Those bulbs bring so much happiness after a long and dreary winter! Enjoy the weather! :)

Les said...

They are calling for temps above 80 here this weekend. I hope we are not headed right into summer.