First Daffodil of Spring

Here is the first daffodil of 2009. It is really a tiny thing, only about 4-6 inches tall and not yet fully opened, but it is there and it is yellow, so that's a good thing.

Here is a better picture of the Iris histrioides that I promised. I'm glad these came back, since the first time I tried them they didn't. The clump has even expanded. Again, these are tiny things, several inches tall. We have them in full sun in a gravelly place and that seems to have made them happy. I just love the colors and patterns on this one which is called 'Katharine Hodgkin'. She must have been a pretty lady to have such and exquisitely patterned flower named after her. The blue is sometimes leaning towards more of a grey shade, especially after they have been out for a day which is even more unusual in a flower.

Tomorrow I'll put up the pictures of our miniature daffodils. Not all are as early as our first bloom, some not showing their faces until the very end of daffodil season. Some have foliage that looks more like chives - round rather than flat - but all are charming.

Jane

Iris - early spring types

This first one we've grown for years. It needs to be replaced occasionally since it doesn't seem to be all that long lived here. It is Iris danfordiae which is originally from Asia Minor. It is a tiny one, only about 4 inches tall and the most wonderful bright yellow. They sometimes only bloom every few years because the bulbs want to divide after bloom to make new plants and the new, smaller bulbs aren't of blooming size the next year. Still worth growing and, like most of the small bulbs, not expensive.

This next are two different Iris reticulata clones, probably the darker one is the species and the lighter one I. reticulata Cantab. These were planted so long ago, before I was really good at marking things, that I'm not sure. These come up very early and might even bloom while there is still snow on the ground. They're taller than the danfordiae, but not by much. Danfordiae seems to have almost no stems sometimes while these have thin, wiry stems about 6 inches tall.

This is a horrible picture, taken last year that didn't download properly. I will take a new one today, hopefully, since these have just come into bloom. Will post tomorrow with all of the information, but just wanted to include it with the other early spring iris.

Our first daffodil bloomed yesterday, or rather, almost bloomed. The flower was there, all nice an yellow, but not quite open. It is always the first one to bloom, even before 'February Gold' which blooms here closer to April most years. My first bloomer is one of the tiniest of the miniatures, barely 5 inches tall with a flower less than an inch in diameter. Much as I like a large bouquet of big daffodils (and will fill my house with them for as long as they are blooming) these miniatures are just charming and I have added a lot of them, especially near the house. They aren't really good in the main beds because they would just get lost/overlooked there, but in a rock garden setting or along a woodsy path they are just perfect.
I think I'll post some pictures of the tiny ones tomorrow along with (hopefully) a better picture of that lovely light blue iris.
Jane

Ipheion

This one was new last year and I didn't know anything about it before I planted it. It's common name is Spring Star Flower and is native to South Africa. This one is Ipheion uniflora 'Froyle Mill'. It only seems to come in this light blue violet, some with a lighter eye and some with no eye. Although it is a late spring bloomer, (probably with late tulips) the foliage is extra early in appearing and so it should probably be in a sheltered spot in the north. It is supposed to be a good increaser, though slower in colder climates. Like most of the rest of the spring bulbs, it will like a sunny location.
It's fun learning about all of these less familiar bulbs and I try to order at least one kind that I haven't had before each year with my daffodil orders. Luckily I'm not likely to run out of space with the 108 acres here, and they're mostly not expensive.
Jane

Frogs

Usually as soon as you are about 30 feet from one of the ponds the frogs stop singing and when you get withing about 10 feet (sometimes even more) they disappear, in unison, beneath the water of foliage. In one of the back ponds yesterday there were about 18 frogs sunning themselves and singing. I always wanted to get a picture of them and never could because they disapear even before a telephoto lens would get them. I don't know why, because all of the other ones in the other ponds hid, but these just kept on singing. Once I got to the edge of the pond, 3/4 of them dove under the water, but these few just stayed.

This was taken from about 10 feet away when there were a lot of frogs still singing.

I told them it was too early to lay eggs, but they don't listen to me and went right ahead even though it will be in the 20s tonight. They often lose their first batch of eggs here because they lay them at the first couple of warm days. They'll just start over when the weather warms again. At least they have laid them in a pond instead of in the bog. When they do that we often have to add water because of the lack of rain to keep the bog wet until the tadpoles have turned into frogs. Sometimes they are down to a large puddle by then, but I can't bear to let them dry up. The little baby frogs are just so cute, about the size of my thumbnail.

Back to plants tomorrow.

Jane

Helleborus tibetanus

This is one of my favorite hellebores, well probably my very favorite, not just because it is always the first to bloom, but also because of the delicate pink color. It is also quite dainty, never more than about 6 inches tall. It is also more delicate as to the foliage and will go totally dormant once hot weather arrives, to wait for late February/early March to reappear. If not pollinated by another early bloomer, it does reliable come true from seed.

This is one of it's babies, slightly darker foliage and blooms which are darker on the outside, though the insides are about the same lovely light pink.

This baby has more blue in it, though it was taken in deep shade and is not quite this blue in person. It, too, has the darker foliage.

It is so nice to have flowers blooming in the yard again. Makes one really want to get out and enjoy.

Jane

Eranthus

The winter aconites have emerged. We planted a whole bunch of new ones last fall in an attempt to finally find a place where they would like to grow. So far they seem happy. The real test will be if they come back next year.
I was not here yesterday because, very uncharacteristically, I overslept - way past my usual wakeup time. I even set my alarm to be sure I got up in time to go to Church. No such luck. I managed to set it to music rather than alarm and then had the volume turned off on the clock radio so I slept blissfully until 8 o'clock. With the sudden return to heavy labor in the gardens I guess I needed the sleep.
Temperatures here have been close to or over 80 degrees F. for the last few days. Way too warm for this time of year. We are getting a lot of cleanup finished from the ice storm. Mostly all done now as far as I can see. I've also been raking paths and even doing a little weeding. I'm glad, though, that it is going to get cooler and more seasonable. Too much of this heat would have plants getting ahead of themselves and then getting damaged in the cold that is certainly yet to come. We have had the doors open and lovely spring breezes throughout the house. (saving on the heat bill too!!!). Yesterday we saw the goldfish in Lake Amanda for the first time this year and frogs jumped in as I got close. The Spring Peepers were singing last night and the pond frogs at the back of the garden were calling to each other from pond to pond. We had a funny frog experience last winter when we had a warm sunny day and the ice at the edge of one of the ponds had melted. We were out for out walk since it was sunny and nice and what did we see - a frog 'ice skating' on one of the ponds. Poor thing had a hole in the ice an nice sunshine and came out for a walk. Problem was he couldn't walk on the ice and was just sliding all ovet the place. We scooted him back to the water and he quickly disappeared back to the bottom of the pond. Don't think he'll try that again.
Blooming yesterday - crocus which weren't even budded the day before, February Daphne - both the species and the white flowered one, Winter Aconite, Hellebore Tibetanus. Pictures of al of these tomorrow. I took them yesterday and managed to delete them all when I tried to download them. Will retake and post the Hellebore pictures of this lovely pale pink species tomorrow morning.
Jane

Hyacinths of various sorts

This first photo is probably what most people think of when they hear the name hyacinth. The parent of these was Hyacinthus orientalis, but they are pretty far removed from that now. These are wonderful, highly scented (maybe too highly scented for a vase on the dining room table) and don't grow all that well here. An older variety 'Woodstock' which is a deep magenta/cranberry color seems to last well, but others haven't been as lucky. We did plant some 2 years ago along the walk from the house. The pink ones all bloomed nicely last year. The blue ones had nice leaves but only some misshapen 1 inch tall blooms sort of like they had been squashed into the ground. I'm curious what they'll do this year. By the way, these are one of the few early spring bulbs that come in pink, a color not all that present in the early spring garden.

These second hyacinths are known here as Wood Hyacinths. Proper name escapes me at the moment. These are lovely in a shaded place and multiply freely. They also come in white and pink in addition to the lovely blue one pictured. They aren't over a foot tall and form nice clumps. These aren't scented and also make good cut flowers.

This last is a white form of the Wood Hyacinth. The flowers are very delicate and look waxy. They bloom more with the daffodils that the early things.

We finished cleaning up all/most of the damage from the ice storm. It was more than we had thought. After dragging all of the large limbs out of the gardens we then had to cut broken branches. One huge on from the mulberry still needs to be dealt with, but since it is not totally broken off and spread out and being held up by the barn roof, it is not an urgent matter and a job neither of us is crazy about starting. Today will be spent in general garden cleanup while we still have nice if totally unseasonable weather. Working in a t shirt was nice yesterday, though I had to keep a sweatshirt on while I was working with the juniper. I love looking at the stuff, just hate touching it since it prickles so much and too much of it will give me a rash. Ugh!.

Jane