After years of planting crocus corms in my back lawn every fall, I skipped planting a few hundred more last fall. But the lawn blooms on! And on! The first crocuses showed up quite early this year, around January 28, and by yesterday—a bright sunny day with highs in the 50s—they were in full flower. I even put a reel on Instagram showing them. I was persistent in planting more crocus corms every year, and I practiced great patience in waiting to see them each spring (winter). … [Read more...] about Crocuses and Eggshells
bulbs
Garden Fairies: Our Big January Surprise
Garden fairies here! We are garden fairies and we are pleased to share that our big January surprise project worked! No, our big January surprise project was not to make these snowdrops bloom, though they are lovely and if you look closely at the picture you'll see there are four nice sized bunches of them drifting through the flower bed. Drifting! Now there's a word we don't think some AI whatever could write about flowers. Our big January surprise project is actually these crocuses … [Read more...] about Garden Fairies: Our Big January Surprise
Crocus Seeds
Hark, what grows there in the lawn? Is it a weird fungus? No, it's the seed pod of a crocus. As the crocus seed pod opens up, it reveals these little seeds that remind me of radish seeds. Once they drop their seeds, the empty seed pods look like this. In a nearby flower bed, I see lots of seed pods forming. I'm going to keep an eye on them and collect some of the seeds when the pods open up. Then maybe I'll sow some of them just to see if I can get them to germinate … [Read more...] about Crocus Seeds
Bulb Buying Secrets You Need Now, In the Spring
Hello, my fellow gardeners. If you lean in close and not let others look over your shoulder, I'll share some of my bulb buying secrets with you. Secrets you need now, in the spring. Ready? Let's get started. Secret Tip 1: Look Around You Right Now Look around your garden and see where there are bare spots, places where maybe you plant annuals later in the spring, or just cover with mulch. Those might be good places to plant bulbs in the fall for spring flowers. Do this … [Read more...] about Bulb Buying Secrets You Need Now, In the Spring
Watch your step!
Watch your step, look around. The first of the colchicums has just been found. I stepped outside early this morning to begin the third day of my 30-day challenge to spend at least an hour in the garden every morning rescuing it from all the weeds, and I felt just the slightest bit of chill in the air. It wasn't enough of a chill to send me running back inside for a jacket... just enough for me to notice how pleasant it is to be out in the garden early in the day. I've made decent … [Read more...] about Watch your step!
Barnardia japonica
Barnardia japonica is one of my favorite late summer flowers. The foliage comes up in the spring and then around mid-August, there are these lovely flowers. Dee Nash and I talked about this flower on our latest episode of The Gardenangelists podcast. I got my plants as passalong plants from the curator at the Elizabeth Lawrence gardens in Charlotte, North Carolina about five years ago, give or take. I went looking for a source to buy plants of this little late summer charmer so I … [Read more...] about Barnardia japonica
