Hepatica nobilis 'Deep Red-Pink'

It seems fitting to lead off my GBD post with the surprise that I found this morning when I went out to inspect the gardens.  This cheerful little Hepatica is a tiny little bright spot in the Camellia bed.  If I remember correctly I accidentally knocked the bud off of this plant last year as I was pulling leaves away.  That makes it a double pleasure this year.

There are a good many other plants in flower right now.  None of them catch my eye more reliably than the two Adonis.

Adonis amurensis 'Fukujukai'

Adonis amurensis 'Sandansaki'

The early blooming, long-lasting flowers, and feathery foliage make these plants real winners.

There are a lot of snowdrops still in bloom around the yard but I looked a little closer at one batch and realized that they are the double flowered Floro Plenos.

Galanthus nivalis 'Floro Pleno'

While I’m far from being a Galanthophile I am at least beginning to be able to tell some of the varieties apart.  The double form does look more fuller and broader than the single.

We have many Hellebores opening up right now.  Enough to make me wish I had done a better job of labeling them.

Our oldest Helleborus (variety unknown)

Helleborus hybrid 'MG Apricot'

Even when they haven’t bloomed the buds look like upside-down tulips and they are quite pretty in this mode as well.

Helleborus hybrid

And everywhere around the hill the Glory-of-the-Snow are putting up their buds.  The Giant Pink ones have a slight lead but the regular old blue ones are not far behind.

Chionodoxa - forbesii 'Pink Giant'

Glory of the Snow are on the way

Meanwhile I won’t spend too much time on the Crocus which are abundant at this point.  Not only the many species types in the lawn but the giant crocus are now doing their thing.

Crocus flavus 'Golden Yellow'

Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant'

Going down into the woods I found the first batch of Daffodils — the Little Gem are among the earliest Narcissus that we have.

Narcissus 'Little Gem'

The thing that I had forgotten was how early the Scillas appear.  In a couple of places we have the Puschkinia actually multiplying.

Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica

Note the beautiful blue lines on the backs of the flowers.

One flower that I really like a lot is the diminutive Scilla bifolia ‘rosea’.

Scilla bifolia 'Rosea'

The pink part that contributes to the ‘Rosea’ is more obvious in the buds and the stamens.  This was originally just a single flower bulb and it’s obviously spreading.  The flowers are tiny but they turn upwards and look right at you.  Highly recommended.

There are a few more plants on the way that are worth mentioning as well.  The Virginia Bluebells are coming out already.

Virginia Bluebells emerging

And the emerging Camassia have a wonderful foliage for this time of year.  I’m not usually a fan of yellow margins but on this bulb it looks very striking.

Camassia leichtlinii 'Sacajawea'

And lastly, I was more than pleased to see that Molly the Witch is off to a really good start — will there be flowers this year?

Paeonoia mloksewitschii (aka Molly the Witch)

If you want to see how other gardens are proceeding at this time of year the Bloom Day is hosted by May Dream’s Gardens.