No snowdrops here yet, unless they're flowering under two feet of snow.

Excellent floral, made my day :).

My daffodils are about four inches high right now.

Thanks, I needed that as well! Love all the crocus. I usually get to enjoy them for one or two days before the rabbits find them.

I have - well, HAD, before we got dumped on by the snow storm - had daffodils coming up almost four weeks ago. I was rather surprised, but I guess it has been mild. Guess it will be awhile for those now lol.

Note to self: MUST remember to get more snowdrops this year. And mean it - been saying that for the last few years. Kato, I put you in charge of reminding around mid-summer please! :)

Dee

Snowdrops--at least some--in bloom since before Christmas. Others now in bloom all over the yard.

Floral, does crocus tomasianus multiply like that on its own or would it require diligent dividing snd augmenting to achieve? That is supposedly the one crocus squirrels don’t eat, though I’m skeptical as mine seem to dwindle rather than multiply.

It self seeds prolifically. The picture is from a local park but I had them in a previous garden and they spread all by themselves.

I can't say I've *ever* seen self-sown crocus in my climate. I do get some fairly minor proliferation from cormlets. I only wish it would spread more for me.

Me too! I wish mine would self sow. I plant crocus in my lawn out near the street where it's sunny but the soil is so shallow (on rock ledge) that in some spots the bulbs are barely one inch down. They don't last many years, I believe due to poor drainage. But well worth the effort IMO. At least if they self sowed even though they might not last long I wouldn't have to keep planting them. That pic is lovely, floral!

:)

Dee

I've stopped buying crocus because some creature has eaten a lot of them. I had a nice collection of them that disappeared. All except for a batch under my Maple tree that is matted with Vinca. All those crocus seem to come back every year.

I find that instead I'm buying Galanthus - Snowdrops. Those do self sow for me and critters seem to leave them alone.

I seem to have good luck with Hyacinths and I use a lot of those. And daffodils of course. Two years ago I added the Miniature Daffodil Mix from John Scheepers and added that to my front bed and I love it! I'm going to order more this year.

prairiemoon, you sound lots like me!

I know crocus can spread lots and so I am being a bit facetious, but last year in particular, I had so many rodents (squirrels mostly) dig up so many of our crocuses that I will be surprised if I see any this spring!

I too planted lots of snowdrops (the double flower kinds)...probably 3 years back (but the past 2 springs mine seem to be all foliage and not many flowers so far....maybe this year it will be different).

I so love muscari. They always look perfect in their well defined clumps.

Last spring after being unexpectedly impressed with seeing for the first time a few of the mini- daffs I had planted, I went all out this past Fall and put in lots more!

Muscari are basically a weed in my climate and definitely don’t stay in well defined clumps. Their evergreen leaves flop and spread relentlessly. There were a few in this garden when we moved here but I got rid of them. They don’t even have the decency to disappear in winter like the blasted bluebells or in summer like the tasty but ubiquitous wild garlic. The pretty flowers aren't worth the year round mess of foliage in my tiny garden.

Rouge - I feel your pain with the crocus. I bought a lot of them one year, that were supposed to be the variety that rodents ignore...nope, I've seen mole/vole tracks in some winters. Not a lot but enough to know there's some here. We get a lot of squirrels, but a lot less since we stopped feeding the birds. In the same season, I lost huge Bleeding Heart plants. For some reason, whatever was eating them, only chose the pink and not the white, so I have a few of those left. [g] I keep adding more bleeding heart back and mostly the white. I tried the red one...Valentine? Hoping maybe that will be ignored. The jury is still out.

Nothing ever bothers the daffodils. I bought the fancy Galanthus that has what look like double flowers, but those disappeared quite quickly. The one that keeps coming back and reseeded for me, is the Galanthus elwesii. And I was watching Gardener's World last week, and Monty Don did an episode where he was recommending that after Galanthus bloom is a great time to lift them and divide them and replant to increase your stock.

I've tried some of the other small bulbs, but I haven't decided if they prosper here or not.

And I'm a big fan of Scilla which has that electric blue and spreads so easily.

I LOVE the miniature daffodils! I tried those because I really don't like to look at the dying foliage so the thought was to have smaller foliage. And it really does help in that way. But I also see that some of these miniature daffodil varieties are so cute! You must be excited to see what you get this spring!

Bantam - one of my favorites. New to the garden so that is the only bloom I got last year.

And I don't remember what this one is but it was blooming very late which I appreciated.

I still love the large daffodils but I have them in areas where the dying foliage doesn't bother me.

Actually to clarify floral I find that the light blue muscari are better behaved for a longer time than the darker blue ones. Do you see any difference re the colours in terms of spread?

Here is one of our clumps from last May.

Yes, that would be typical, the more 'developed', the less wildling behavior :) I planted a bunch of those this last fall, looking forward to clumps in a few years (usually planted only three together)...I'm cheap.

I had avoided muscari for years but then broke down when a friend stopped by with a few spares that they had been gifted. I don't like the messy foliage, but the rabbits are considerate enough to eat most of it during the winter, and whatever is left gets trimmed back in early spring. By the time the flowers come up new foliage has grown and it looks fine. After bloom I (nearly always) trim off the seedheads.

but the rabbits are considerate enough to eat most of it during the winter,

That's Interesting as our muscari foliage dies back before the Fall.

Today, by coincidence, an across the country friend sent me a picture taken at a job site this past week.. (A home located on Pender Island in BC Canada).

Somewhere, in the ground. Soon, nope.

Yesterday‘s walk. Wild snowdrops in a hedgebank.

Oh wow, look at that!!

Nice, must be great to live where wild bulbs just grace your walk :)

We have wild onions...umm yeah, and death camass too.

How lovely, floral!

:)

Dee

Do small-flowered narcissus count? If so, I have these blooming now in Southern California - they come back every year. They’re actually a bit past their prime. I have Ice Follies daffodils that also come back but they’re just barely sprouting now. I live in Southern California near the coast with very few chill horus

I love jonquils. I bet yours smell gorgeous.

Do small-flowered narcissus count?

Of course they do!

Each variety smells different. My favorite is Chinese Sacred Lily. My least favorite is the standard paperwhites.

We have had a 2-3' blanket of snow on the ground for the last month or so, but some rain over the past few days melted most of it. I went out yesterday to see what was poking through and discovered some alliums putting out green as well as a few snowdrops. No crocuses yet, but if the squirrels didn't eat them they should be up in a couple of weeks.

We've had snow cover and it was warmer for a few days and we've had some melt but still a lot of snow on the ground. And right where my snowdrops grow, that is still a pile of snow. I'm going to have to add more snow drops where the snow melts first. [g]

My Ice Follies daffodils are blooming now in low chill Southern California. They come back each year. The tulips in the photo don’t come back, I buy and refrigerate each year.

I have 'Ice Follies' too, they're on the list of those that are dependable to come back every year. I've had them for over 15 years coming back every season. Yours look so pretty with the tulips, nice color combo. What is the plant behind the grouping that looks to be along the walkway edge?

You must be enjoying spring!

I have 'Ice Follies' too, they're on the list of those that are dependable to come back every year.

I always thought that daffodils in general are quite consistent "returners" (especially when compared to many varieties of tulips).

Definitely in comparison I guess they are, I have had a few that have disappeared on me. Maybe the list also represents those that multiply the fastest?

(But having said that I bet I have planted over a thousand daffodil bulbs in the past decade, lots in an adjacent, mostly empty field behind us, and there aint no way there are even close to 1000 daffodil plants that I saw last spring ;))

Well they do start to diminish when they get too crowded. I have lifted some of mine and redistributed some. I also went out of my way about 10 years ago to buy daffodils from someone who was supposed to be an expert in daffodil varieties that were specifically suited to my state and the kind of soil I had. They were expensive! So much so, I ended up buying like one or two of a handful of varieties. They disappeared over the next two years and they were the worst performing in my garden. So much for experts. [g] But oddly, last season, all of a sudden I saw 3 varieties that I didn't recognize and I figured out that it was some of the missing daffodils back after an 8 year absence. OH...and...Camissia that I hadn't seen for 5 years came back to. The mysteries of the garden.

Prairiemoon2, there is a short, pink snapdragon in the center back of that flowerbed, is that what you’re asking about?

My Ice Follies stopped blooming well because they were too crowded. I divided them I think two years ago. Bulbs were all very small. They didn’t do much last year. This year they look wonderful again.

Good for you socalgal. (I don't have the patience to divide bulbs)

Socalgal - Yes, that's what it is, a pink snapdragon. Great for the spring! Your garden looks lovely!

I watch Gardener's World sometimes, and the host has rows of snowdrops, just gorgeous and when they stop blooming, he lifts them and divides them and replants. I've never done that, I have waited for them to reseed, but I'm going to try that this year. You can really increase what you have and giving them more room does help them to bloom at their best.

Thank you. For those needing another flower fix, the flowerbed from the other side. This is my garden’s best time of year. I let most of it go summer dormant.

No bulbs here, but the pictures above are GORGEOUS. All are beautiful, but two stand out for me: Floral, the crocus in the park are fantastic. Rouge, the orange-yellow in your friend's photo just shines. Lovely!

Oops! I should have posted these yesterday - St. David’s Day.

We've had heavy snow cover here for a few weeks as well. Lots of rain and warmer temperatures the last few days and I was looking forward to the snow disappearing... until it did, lol. Ugh, what a brown, dreary landscape out there! At least today the sun is out, even if it's freezing out there, and when it gets a degree or two warmer this afternoon I will venture out to see if there are any snowdrops or maybe even crocus showing.

In the meantime, I'm living vicariously through the wonderful photos here. Thanks for sharing!

:)
Dee

Pretty daffs, Floral! Nice long trumpet and tall. What is St David's Day?

The wind is ferocious out there today. Woke us up in the night. Blowing everything all over the place. Lots of branches and twigs on the ground. I did see some daff foliage up in a few places, yesterday. Today I am in the house sorting through seed. Good day to do it.

St David is the patron saint of Wales. His day is March 1st. The daffodil has is the national flower. The daffodil in the pictures is February Gold, a cyclamineus hybrid. (Note reflexed petals.)

Yesterday, while it was still fairly nice out, I went looking for flowers. The early hellebore (foetidus) is almost open, and the snowdrops are in full bud. The winter aconite still seems to be covered with snow, and the hybrid hellebores don't seem to be doing anything yet. I didn't see any crocus foliage, but those are hard to find in the grass until they are almost ready to bloom.

I also had a look around yesterday. For as fast as the snow melts the snowdrops are there ready to go!

In front of the house the snow melted the day before, and in spite of a morning temperature of 16F the snowdrops are one warm day away from fully flowering!

Kato, I was JUST thinking of you! I just finished a webinar from a local library. The presenter was talking about gardens of the Scottish highlands, and at the end she mentioned that there is a yearly snowdrop festival there. She said snowdrops are very popular, with up to 70 different kinds of snowdrops available. I thought, wow, I've got to tell kato about this! So, here you go, lol.

Scottish snowdrop festival

:)
Dee