Bountiful Blooms

With warming temperatures this week, the snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) will finish up a bit early but I caught a sweet shot yesterday (above) that really confirms the common name with that "dangling drop" appearance (albeit minus the snow). I would plant tens of thousands of these each year if we had the funds to do so. We are now starting to segway in to the next wave of early bloomers with Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) below leading the charge. This is one of the more common bulbs used in a bulb lawn. I love the electric blue blossoms but understand that this plant will drop lots of seeds and you'll have a "haze" of juvenille foliage from the babies (particularly in rich garden soil) until they mature to a blooming age in a couple of years. I don't mind it as this plant goes dormant regardless by early June. Here at the gardens, we've used a plug aerator in the fall on certain lawns and then pushed squill bulbs in to the holes after a bit of hole widening. One of my favorite spring bulbs that I've admittedly taken for granted (due to its consistent performance and perennialization) is Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa sp.). This bulb, native to western Turkey, is typically shorter than 9" and really has a lot of flower power. Below is 'Pink Giant' (Chionodoxa luciliae) which is one of my favorites. I've seen many minor bulbs dwindle in vigor over the years for various reasons but have seed this bulb just get more established in sturdy clumps. Underneath 'Pink Giant' is 'Blue Giant' amongst the striped squill (Puschkinia libanotica) although the picture is from last year. Don't pass up buying a couple hundred of these this fall. Also look for the species sardensis and forbesii. Easy to plant and easy to enjoy. Satisfaction guaranteed. Today was moderately busy despite a chilly morning. Kay and Mary came in to do some tidying up and weeding in the English cottage garden and North American garden. If I had a dozen Marys a dozen Kays, weeds would never be an issue. Little Jerry continued pruning conifers in front of the building and is trying to "scale back" some junipers. Larry and Bill worked on removing some tree stumps and hazard trees along the north path. Bill also hauled back all sorts of debris. Dick H., Dick P. and Big John (left to right below) came in to continue digging around the sculpture area. With a great start yesterday (with Ron), these fellas could be professional grave diggers. However, their digging has revealed more issues with this wall so we're considering our course of action and how much $ will be involved. What you can't see is these guys were sitting on the wall leaning on shovels until I went to take the picture! We also saw Dave, Jean, Deb and Del today. Beautiful daisies continue to arrive daily at the gardens and we look forward to placing these original 27 pieces of art out in the gardens. At the bottom is one that we were all impressed with when it came in yesterday. Created by Angel and Lavonne, this daisy looks just as good on the back as it does the front. Note the mirror in the center. This entry also wins the award for overall weight too! Nice work ladies.