Posts tagged as:

crocus

Snowdrops, Winter Aconites, Crocus: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day March 2010

March 15, 2010

Another March, another mud season in full swing. The snowdrops that had barely opened five days ago are now in full flower:
The snowdrops that were buried under snow on March 7th are now in full bud, as you can see on the left. This is the path in the Secret Garden that I brag [...]

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Choose locations to plant fall bulbs now

March 10, 2010

In January, the snowdrops in the Secret Garden looked like this:
This Sunday just passed–March 7th–those same snowdrops looked like this:
Such are the vagaries of an upstate New York winter. Since then, the temperatures have been mild and the sunshine brilliant, and the snow is receding. This, my fellow cold climate gardeners, is the best time [...]

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How to Plant a Lot of Crocuses

October 22, 2009

For years now, we’ve enjoyed the crocus display along one side of our driveway. This spring I decided it should be even bigger, and over the last two days I planted a hundred more, bringing the total to over nine hundred. The “soil” is compacted clay, making the corms somewhat difficult to plant, but, happily, [...]

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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day April 2009

April 15, 2009

Looking over last year’s April Bloom Day post, I see the same things blooming at pretty much the same time. The smaller-and-earlier species crocus are on the wane, but the later-and-larger Dutch crocus are definitely making a color statement. I’m thinking about getting more of these and extending the crocus bank further towards the road [...]

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Bees return to the Crocus Bank

April 1, 2009

About fifteen years ago I planted a bit more than 800 bulbs into the north-facing bank of our driveway. Um, no, not all in one day. Not all in the same year, actually. You can read more about it here.

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Mud Season Color: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day March 2009

March 15, 2009

As soon as the snow melts, before anything even blooms, there is color.If you are aware that some plants can grow underneath the snow, this is not a complete surprise, though I always marvel when it is an attractive garden plant that pulls this trick, and not just the tap-rooted and creeping weeds.

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Mud Season: A primer for newcomers and Southerners

March 10, 2009

Mud season has finally arrived. As I have had more contact with gardeners in other climates, I’ve come to realize that certain aspects of my climate are completely foreign to them, so I thought I’d explain mud season for those who have never encountered it. It will sound pretty elementary to my fellow cold climate [...]

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Early spring blossoms: Crocus and snowdrops

March 24, 2008

The temperatures are still dropping into the teens every night (last night’s low: 17.5F or -8C) and even when the high hits 40F (4C) the brisk wind makes it feel chillier. But at least a hurried stroll around the premises is now rewarded with signs that Spring is slowly making inroads in Winter’s territory. These [...]

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The Crocus Bank

April 4, 2006

“There ya’ go, lady. All’s ya gotta do is sprinkle some grass seed and you’re all set.” I smiled and thanked the hard-hatted foreman of the highway crew, and then turned to survey the damage. Early that autumn morning the foreman had knocked on my door, informing me that they wanted to regrade our dirt [...]

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Uh-oh

March 27, 2004

This is a photo of my beloved crocus bank. The driveway runs roughly east to west, downhill all the way. On the south side of the driveway, the lawn runs down fairly steeply to the driveway, forming a bank that I have planted quite densely with crocuses. The crocuses are just getting started, but it [...]

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Counting the days till spring

February 26, 2004

I don’t keep consistently good garden records, but one detail I have tracked faithfully since I planted my first flower, is the date of the first bloom around here. For you Southerners who have things blooming throughout the winter, I’m talking about the first visible bloom, when the snow has melted enough for me to [...]

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September blooms and garden chores

September 25, 2003

It has remembered it can rain. We have had rain and snow on the fires enough to get them contained, clear the air, and make some plants bloom out of season. Oriental poppies & rosemary both must be thinking, wow, that was awful, it must be spring now that it is better. [...]

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