Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Bloom Drops

If I am lucky the first Bloom Day of a new year will start with a few drops at least showing a bit of petal. The critical element is snow cover. The first few drops could be covered in snow on January's Bloom day.



Day by day and drop by drop, snow cover willing, more drops appear. February's Bloom Day is near guaranteed to have an actual flower willing to sit for a portrait.



The last two fall bulb planting seasons the snowdrops were assisted in relocating over a wider territory. I went looking to see where Bulbarella planted them.



You can see how such diminutive bulbs can get lost in the debris and why even a wild cultivated garden can use a touch of spring cleaning.



Here's some cat's paws for comparison.



Most of the new patches of drops look to have landed in the ever expanding northern boundary of the wild cultivated garden. I guess the term boundary can be taken with a dollop of bulbs.



There are more snowdrops now than my first bulb show in the spring of 2008. Many more. Everyone of these pictures is from a different patch of snow drops. And I missed more than a few I am sure.



This is where it all began, the mother lode of snowdrops.



I was asked if the main patch of drops was looking depleted. Uhm, no. I think division has done them some good.



Day by day the sun creeps back into view. Next Bloom Day the drops will not be so lonely.



For a little more variety you can visit the mother lode of garden blogger's Bloom Day posts from around the blooming planet at a place called May Dreams.

11 comments:

Rich Rennicks said...

I love those pictures of the massed snowdrops. There is a churchyard near where I grew up in Ireland and every winter it's covered in thick mats of snowdrops. Then in spring the bluebells replace the snowdrops. It's one of the most beautiful sights I know.

I've tried to emulate both effects in my yard in NC, but, alas, those squirrels wouldn't cooperate. However, with a bit of luck, I'll have a carpet of Star of Bethlehem in another 4-5 weeks. This corner of NC has it's own charms.

Annie in Austin said...

The snowdrops are so beautiful in your photos, Christopher... how much more beautiful they must be in person.
Good luck with the counter & happy GBBD!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Lola said...

The Snowdrops are looking ever so lovely. They are different from my snowflakes. I shall see if I can get some of the Snowdrops. Any sign of the flakes?

growingagardenindavis said...

Lovely...what a nice welcome to spring! Happy Bloom Day!

Darla said...

They are sweet blooms...March 15th should be a much better showing here too.

Anonymous said...

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2011/02/camellia_japonica_camellia_cuspidata.php

here is link for Daniel's request.

bev

Anonymous said...

oops sorry; see my comment on the previous post for the explanation for the mysterious link I posted here!

bev

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Happy GBBD. My poor little drops look liliputin. Obviously I need to plant more.

Christopher C. NC said...

Rich we are still working on massed snowdrops. The Bluebells, Hyacinthoides hispanica, not the English/Irish kind, we have by the thousands in huge drifts. The varmints can be a problem, that's why poisonous bulbs are best.

Hi Annie. In person a magnifying glass would be useful to see the intricate colors of the petals.

Lola I know where I planted the snowflakes, but until they bloom I can't tell them from the daffodils.

Leslie this is an ever so slow warm up to the real bulb show to come.

Darla by March 15th I should be seeing the first daffodils. The 10,000 daffodils peak about the first week of April.

Bev I went to the UBCBG site and gave him some tips for this area.

Lisa I have a feeling Bulbarella started with a few measly snowdrops at one point. They are so tiny it takes a few to really show.

Lola said...

I saw my first daffodil 2 days ago, now I have another on the other side of the yard. Two different kinds. I'm happy. Seems as though they start blooming about the same time as yours. Flakes started about a week ago.

Sunray Gardens said...

Great seeing them peek on through everything.

Cher
Goldenray Yorkies