We have been stuck in a cold and dreary weather pattern, and I have been poking around for days looking for something beyond Scilla bifolia ‘Rosea’ and snowdrops when the sun peeks out.
Early Spring Bulbs
This year, the snowdrops bloomed first. The squirrels have done a pretty good job of spreading them out.
The Scilla bifolia ‘Rosea’ have survived the extremely heavy layer of leaves that I put on their bed in the hopes of tamping down their exuberance.
They are really beautiful, but their multiplicative tendencies are positively alarming. They are blooming in the lawn under the silver maple and in a big mass under the witch hazel.
Also blooming are some of the crocuses, but others are resolutely awaiting sunlight before opening. Some of the blooms have been nibbled, but the damage is not as bad as last year’s.
The cream crocuses are my favorite, perhaps because they look so sunny even on gloomy days. They are unharmed, but the rabbits definitely nibbled on the purple ones while they were still budding up.
Our small wildlife definitely has its influence. The scilla is also in bloom. It was brought in by squirrels from a neighbor’s yard.
The dwarf irises and early tulips have not even budded up, but the daffodils have. Things seem to be running about two weeks behind last year. I think of these as late winter and early spring plants. It’s not really spring until the native spring ephemera appear.
Harbingers of Warmer Temperatures
The spring ephemera have finally appeared—the established bluebells broke ground about a week ago, but seem to be in slow motion. The bluebells I put in the rain garden have not yet appeared.
Other ephemera have just appeared above ground within the last day. The hepatica suddenly lost its leaves about a week ago, but today its leaf and flower buds are showing.
Yesterday I could see the little pink corms of Dutchman’s breeches here and there. Today, I can see little plants popping out in clumps.
Also visible for the first time today are the twin leaf, which pop up with a flower bud tucked within their fan-dance leaves.
Finally, and only on the south side of the house, a peony has broken ground despite nights in the low twenties.
While it seems to be spring in slow motion, at least plants are finally breaking dormancy. According to the weather report we have another week of this chilly, damp weather.
A New Phone—Slightly Larger Pictures.
This is the first batch of photographs from my new iPhone 6se. The previous iPhone finally gave up holding a charge, especially if I used the camera.