In my last posting Jessica of Rusty Duck asked about the fragrance of a Freesia I had posted. The question made me check not only the fragrance of that flower (it had a hint of fragrance) but also to check the scent of a number of other flowers that are flowering right now. I realized that in many cases I had been presuming that I knew the fragrance of a flower merely because I had checked on the scent emanating from other flowers in that genus. I should have known better. I’ve been growing a number of Lachenalias. Partly because the seeds were readily available through the PBS bulb exchange and I love exploring with new plants. And then they multiplied like little horticultural rabbits. One of the biggest flowered of the Lachenalia that I have also has an amazing fragrance, which I had totally missed until now. Think baby powder. Very sweet smell. This particular Lachenalia got its species name from the red dots that ‘contaminate’ the stems. Actually it just makes them more interesting.
This is what the Lachenalia corner of the greenhouse looks like right now.
Here’s a closeup of of the Lachenalia splendida. No scent but quite pretty in its own right.
Also in flower right now is a a Geissorhiza which I don’t think I’ve shared until now. It has a number of pretty mauve flowers on each stem, much like a small Freesia.
And let me close, before returning to the garden to get some of those rapidly growing weeds, with another shot of the Spiloxene in the greenhouse.
It’s another South African native, also called the Peacock Flower for it’s colorfully marked star-like flowers.
Belated Garden Blogger’s Bloom Post for March 2016
It is way past the normal mid-months sharing of what’s in bloom for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. My only excuse is that I was in Florida taking pictures of all kinds of birds. Meanwhile Maryland had warm enough temperatures that many things accelerated right through their bloom cycle while I was gone. Today we are back to cold and intermittent snow, but I did get some pictures yesterday before the weather changed. Given the hour and lateness of the posting I will try to focus on just a few of the unusual flowers and you can assume that the daffodils, crocuses, Glory of the Snow, Leucojeum, Hellebores, etc. are all doing their spectacular thing.
One group of flowers that is really shining right now is the Corydalis solida.
Close by is the first of the Erythroniums
The Hepaticas are well into bloom now, though they seem to be staggered in time. Some are ready and others just poking through.
One of my favorite spring ephemerals are the Jeffersonia, both the Korean and American types.
We also have a new snowdrop with very exotic markings that came to us from Lithuania last year.
The same source, Augis Bulbs, also sent us a big flowered little tulip (i.e., big flower for a dwarf tulip)
I have to spend some time with the Adonis as they continue to fascinate me. For the first time we have Adonis vernalis (also from Augis Bulbs).
The foliage is quite different from the ferny foliage of the other Adonis that we have. Note how even when the flowers are gone the Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’ makes a very pretty clump.
The Adonis amurensis ‘Sandanzaki’ continues to flower and to give a sense of it’s flowering habit let me share the picture of both the overall plant and then the individual flower which began opening almost a month ago.
We also have the last part of the flowering of another unusual Adonis that mostly flowered while I was in Florida.
There are a couple of nice Drabas flowering in the troughs right now.
Also in the small trough is the first bud for a pasque flower
Well, there is more on the outside but let me finish up with a few plants from the greenhouse. The Spiloxene is pretty special right now.
And there are a couple of other related South African plants flowering too.
And last but not least is the first Ferraria that inspired me to grow these ultra curled flowers.
Joyful Moments
My granddaughter raised a question in a video-chat dinnertime conversation the other night which was something along the lines of ‘what would you be doing when you are happiest?’ For me it is somewhere between lying on the grass in the warm sun contemplating the leaves overhead and the discovery of ‘new’ plants that are the result of what I planted last year and have completely forgotten about. The latter has been happening a lot lately. Either because I forget more than I used to or I was really busy planting last year. Day after day I am finding delightful new additions to our garden and it makes it really rewarding to explore the yard as though it were a new place each day. Last week it was Scolliopus biglovii (how’s that for a mouthful), a Christmas present from last year that I had quite forgotten about. Probably no flowering this year, but still a nice surprise.
And now this week the Eranthis pinnatifida.
I discovered this little gem in an issue of the International Rock Gardener that focused entirely on Eranthis. I hadn’t any idea there were so many variations of the Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) which we have grown for forty years. We imported the Eranthis pinnatifida from England last year. At the same time I ordered a creamy yellow cultivar of Eranthis hyemalis from Lithuania and that was visible for the first time this week as well.
Yet another new arrival this week was a rather unusual Fritillaria that we also obtained from Augis’ bulbs.
This promises to be a very interesting flower as it opens up.
The small species Iris are also showing up in the Monument bed just now.
And then there are the three yellow flavors of Adonis — plain, special, and extra-special.
In the greenhouse the Ferrarias are continuing to open up. Here are three flavors of Ferraria crispa.
The wonderful Scilla peruviana has flowered extravagantly and earned a spot inside the house.
Also in the house right now is a pot of Freesia.
And soon to be arriving is this Tulbaghia that is just opening up.
I was busy photographing the water droplets on the Aeonium in the greenhouse when a surprising visitor popped in front of my lens.
I’m just guessing at the species from web photos. There are a lot of spiders in the world. Anyway, that was another joyful moment…