Monsoon Bulbs

If I hear anything about a continuing drought in WNC I will be very concerned. You mean it is supposed to rain more than it does now?



Rain is certainly a good thing and I have been able to get down to Client #1's as much as needed. I'm not really complaining even if it is messing with my porch roof painting a bit.



The wall beneath the cabin has been getting some work done on it when I have to wait for things to dry.



A little more rain just might make me sit down and fill out my tax forms all nice and pretty before the 14th arrives. The cipherin is done. The official copy just needs to be filled in.

I think this may be one of my favorite daffodils. I like its creamy light yellow color. It could be the Trumpet Daffodil 'Honeybird'.



In the tiny bulb department the Chionodoxa forbesii 'Blue Giant' would be my preferred blue spring carpet.



The Ramps, Allium tricoccum are up. I really must try them this year and will look online for some recipes.



Our early evening strolls are always rewarded by seeing some new botanical delight making its appearance.



A large clump of Muscari is starting to bloom.



Why I do believe this is a Trout Lily, Erythronium americanum. I think it was a new acquisition just last fall.



Then the rains came, again, and it was time to go back inside.



The Spots can be just as particular as me now about the weather they are willing to be outside in. They don't do cold or wet anymore voluntarily.

The Black Camera

I went to a native plant garden and my camera had no juice.
Which means I will just have to return and wander through the garden again.
No problem. The garden was just waking up and it was filled with native azaleas and rhododendrons. I may need to go a few times.

A Little Wild Vignette

This one small area where the snowdrops are is packed with an array of small bulbs. They mingle with strangers and wander off to explore new territory. They crowd together with familiar company, each kind presenting a group identity.



The bearded iris will follow the early spring miniature bulbs. There is sure to be hosta close by. Aster will cover for the summer and bloom in the fall.



No season is wasted in this small patch of ground.

Two Magnolia

Among 10,000 daffodils.



One Crawford stalking



Among 10,000 daffodils,



Swaying in a stiff wind.



The first fritillaria.



Among 10,000 daffodils.



Way up high



Where two magnolia blooms



Have opened before the next diagnosis for a slight chance of snow.

Waking Up

Three days of rain to be followed by a fourth is conducive to the evil pleasure of long naps.



Interludes between showers have allowed some activity. A big patch of Puschkinia libanotica was admired on a moist evening stroll.



There are still daffodils in waiting. I'm not sure if I am imagining it, but it feels like this year's show is better. Bulbarella did express some concern that the Great Easter Freeze of '07' may have zapped some of the bulbs energy production for the 2008 show.



Live time radar on the internet also allowed me to see the big holes in the rain and go finish spreading the double ground hardwood mulch. The forsythia greets me coming and going.



I am certain this is blooming better this year because last year it was so meek I thought why bother with such a rangy shrub. I still feel a bit that way and think this is a plant best enjoyed in someone else's garden.



Two sessions of wall building have been done during the rains. My porch roof painting is on hold until the sun returns and the framing has a chance to dry.



It has been nice to spend some time with the wall and see it rise closer to completion.



I have long pondered what color should I paint the cement columns. Now I know it will be the same Molera Vaquero Red as the porch roof's framing. It will work fine with the color in the soil and the stones as well as make a bold statement against the future grey of the siding, the grey forest in winter and the green forest of summer.



The sack of daffodils bulbs that jumped in my shopping cart last fall are blooming nicely.



The sedum that traveled from Faire Garden Tennessee is sprouting.



The lupine that fell out of the ground across the street are greening up nicely.



These large ones have been joined by a half dozen more grown from seed. A new garden is waking.

The Cherry Tree

When I drove by the first time the pasture was filled with black cows.



I was hoping for that Black Cow Cherry shot on the way back.

Rainy Day Daffodils

Yesterday in our evening stroll before the rains came, the ongoing Bulbapaloozathon is recorded.



Oh goody, more rain is coming!



One of the Small Cupped Narcissus has arrived. 'Barrett Browning' would be my guess.



Split-Cup, Large Cup and Ruffle Cup in one clump.



The Cyclamineus Daffodil have reflexed petals. I'll go for 'Ara'. This bulb catalog is very helpful and is about the only method Bulbarella has to keep track of what she has.



And before the rains, the first coat of Molera Vaquero Red made it onto the framing of the back stoop's roof. Now I have to wait for things to dry out again.



The daffodils will keep me busy.



Or some wall building can be squeezed in.

Someone Else's Bulbs

Muscari, boulder and trees.



Vinca, daffodils and boulder.



Orange tulip, boulder and the double ground hardwood mulch I was spreading.



In a nice neighborhood



With a view of the lake



During the Bulbapaloozathon of spring in North Carolina.

The Big Picture

What does a hillside with 10,000 daffodils really look like? I took a step back to give you a bigger picture. I also saved these photos in a larger size, so when you click on them they will expand larger than my pictures do most of the time. If you are on slow internet or hate having to scroll pictures on the screen you may not want to expand them.

Moving from left to right which is north to south, a big chunk of the ridge top garden can be seen.



The garden and the daffodils go beyond the crest of the hill. On the north end it is as much as another eighty feet to the property line. At the south end it narrows down to about twenty feet from the crest of the hill to the property line.



I think it is another week and a half to two weeks before the daffodils reach peak bloom. The weather may be perfect for them. Highs are in the mid sixties and the lows are now just above freezing. The weather diagnosis is calling for more rain towards the end of the week.



From this picture, the ridge top garden extends another hundred feet at least to the road. In total it is about an acre of ground. I guess you would call this the main garden though it is by no means the only piece of ground the resident gardeners tend. The bulk of the daffodils are towards this end. That does not mean they haven't wandered all the way out to the road, into the sunny utility meadow and the new area being planted in the forest below the driveway.



If there was ever a sense of organization in the planting of daffodils it has been abandoned in the addiction to have more.



Spreading this many kinds of daffodils around can easily lead to improper identification of what kind of daffodil was in that sack of bulbs. Sometimes I think Bulbarella just doesn't care.



Why should she? Does it really matter if she's happy?