Adonis ‘Chichibu Beni’
All it took was a lovely 50 degree day to bring lots of flowers into bloom. Especially lovely is this spectacular Adonis from the Chichibu mountain region of Japan. The entire six year-old plant keeps slowly expanding and it is worth the wait.
Adonis ‘Chichibu Beni’ in the late afternoon light
And I discovered this year that the seed that I planted from this flower in 2013 has finally yielded a flower as well.
Adonis ‘Chichibu Beni’ Seedling
Of course the yellow flowered Adonis cannot be ignored on a sunny day either
Adonis ‘fukujukai’
These intrepid early flowers had company today. Even the Jeffersonia, which is way out of correct timing, has flowers appearing.
Jeffersonia dubia
And I discovered as I scraped leaves away that the Helleborus thibetanus was also in flower under the leaves.
Helleborus thibetanus
It was not surprising to see that more of the Eranthis are also in bloom.
Eranthis hyemalis ‘Schwelglanz’
And the alpine bed had the first flowers on the very nice Draba hispanica.
Draba hispanica
Of course, I shouldn’t ignore two little Moraeas that are blooming in the greenhouse.
Moraea macronyx
Moraea ciliata
Altogether it was really nice to follow up the snowfall of yesterday with work in the yard pulling off the leaves and revealing treasures.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day February 2018
The vegetable garden in winter
I took this picture last week after a particularly pretty ice storm. It’s very representative of the kind of winter we’ve had and sort of a nice lead into this month’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. At the same time the Adonis, usually my first striking blooms of the season, were tightly held in bud waiting for a warm day.
Adonis ‘fukujukai’ in the snow
But yesterday (what a difference a few days makes) the same Adonis were fully reveling in the sunshine. Full credit to Beth for catching this colorful image of the Adonis while I was heading back from the west coast.
Adonis ‘fukujukai’
The lesser petaled species Adonis were also out in bloom.
Adonis amurensis
As were some of the winter stalwarts like the snowdrops and witch hazel.
Snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii)
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’
This plant continues to show some of the yellowish flowers that I noticed earlier in the season, together with some really fine red flowers.
And just for today the first Winter Aconite have appeared on the scene.
Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)
In the greenhouse one of my favorite plants of the season is in flower.
Hesperantha paucifolia
It’s because of this Hesperantha that I’ve added several Hesperantha to my seed exchange requests.
There is a perfectly lovely compact Oxalis in full flower right now. Note the red barber pole striping on the unopened buds.
Oxalis densa
And also a very nice new Oxalis that came to me via a Pacific Bulb Exchange distribution last fall.
Oxalis purpurea ‘Garnet’
Oxalis purpurea ‘Garnet’ in bud
Notice the yellow coloring in the unopened bud. The red leaves are striking.
So with the nice start from the Adonis we are now facing more snow and freezing weather tomorrow. So winter isn’t done with us yet.