Some plants stayed green all through the winter even under the ice and snow we had. And some have started their spring growth at full speed. Daffs don't do well in my yard, it is usually not cold enough in the winter to keep them happy and it is definitely too hot/dry in the summer for them to live. Last spring I had blooms from all of the 45 Dutch Master Daffs and it looked so pretty, this year I have two and they are kind of smallish. Dutch Master daffs look a little small ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) This one is the only survivor from some unknown Daffs I planted out back about 4 years ago, several green leaves but only this bloom. ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) These black Pansies I bought last October for Halloween, the are in an orange pot with a jack-o-lantern face on the other side. They stayed in bloom all winter and have just exploded with blooms the last couple of weeks. Black Pansies exploding in bloom ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) These are Sequoia Strawberries, I didn't expect them to return. I bought them at the end of the season last year simply for their green leaves, never expected any blooms but I looked this morning and there is one white bloom and another that has already set fruit. I just might have something to nibble on while gardening in a while. Strawberries stayed green thru the winter too ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) I bought these just a couple of weeks ago and they are really liking the cool weather. The Blue Daze sort of went limp after the temp dropped to about 31 one night last week but it revived. Dianthus, Blue Daze and Alyssum ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden )
I never had black pansies. I will have to try them. I wonder if putting daffodil bulbs in the refrigerator in late winter would give them the amount of cold they need? Just thinking as usual. Nice spring pictures Toni thank you, Jerry
Oh Toni those black pansies have stolen my heart. Now I just have to go out and get some for myself. Mmmmm..... where to plant them? :-D
Toni, I agree that growing daffodils in the South isn't easy. I found a supplier that specializes in bulbs that do well in our "special" conditions: http://www.dixiebulbs.com The miniature Tom Thumb daffs are in bloom here now. I have better luck with the miniatures and the multipliers than with some of the more esoteric daffs. You have so many other things in bloom now that I'm surprised you even miss the daffodils!
The enabler has struck again...I think I really HAVE to have at least one of those orange Parrot Glad bulbs. Beautiful!!
Man, I just looked my peepers right out of my head! All those flowers--good grief, Toni---that's great. I wass glad to hear that you have some daff survivors. One ofthese days you can dig up the bulbs and plant themm apart--they obviously have the genetic where-with-all to survive in your yard. I especially liked that last foto of your pot. That lookes cheeful.
This evening I noticed that there are more Daffs blooming out back, that I planted just this past fall. Also the Muscari armeniacum (Grape Hyacinth) I have never grown before have bloomed. I will take a good photo of them tomorrow. And my Clematis 'Snow Queen' (Clematis) is loaded with buds this year, must be almost a dozen starting up at the same time. I can hardly wait for them to bloom. Cheryl, that red/white/blue group is one of my favorites. The Evolvulus glomeratus 'Blue Daze' drooped a little last week after the light freeze but I thnk that just gave it more ooomph to put out more growth. Jerry, I never had black Pansies either until they were out just before Halloween. I love them, I think they will become a regular in both front and back gardens for me. Eileen, I hope you can find the black Pansies easily. These are the tiny version about 1/3rd the size of regular ones. Netty, I feel sort of guilty having blooms when so many of your who have real winter are still only seeing white. Jane, you enabler you. I do miss the daffs since those were the first types of flowers I ever planted many, many years ago when I was about 15 and because they are just so blamed hard to get to come back here. I am going to check out that site more thoroughly to see what I can get for next Spring. Sjoerd, for some reason it just never dawned on me that those bulbs would turn to compost during the summer. But I do plan on digging those two up after they die back and keep them in the bottom of the refrigerator for the summer and fall. Hopefully they will survive and bloom again next year.
Your Daffs and Pansies are beautiful Toni. I'm so glad Spring is almost here because we get to see all the plants members are growing.
The Muscari are so cute.... ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) Land of Muscari ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) There are about a dozen out there and will all be opened up by the weekend....don't know which variety I'll see if I can find the package. These Daffs are lined up along the back edge of the Muscari bed ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden )
The Muscari also come in white. My purple ones have learned their multiplication tables as they increase their numbers each year. Jerry
Very nice Muscari Toni. I don't think mine have that little white band around the end of the blooms. Oh, and just so you know...we are having snow squalls today.
Those Muscari of yours are wonderful. I don't think I've ever seen ones that color blue. The ones that I usually see are dark purple. I like your Land of Muscari picture. I can just imagine myself as a bug wandering through there.
Your flowers are all popping up just so that you can take their pics for us Toni!! :-D Those grape hyacinths must look great with the daffs behind them. Just wait a few years and the muscari will have really spread and be a lovely carpet of blue.
