Good morning, and what the fuck? Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging.
Somehow, while we were on vacation, Denver time-warped back to February. On the Thursday before we came home, Denver had a mini-blizzard with 10" of snow; on Monday, another 4" of snow; spits of snow on Wednesday (_not_ the predicted 6") and today — well, the forecasted blizzard hasn't arrived, but the storm warning lasts through tomorrow morning.
The snow isn't the WTF part — we typically get (and desperately need this year), quite a bit of snow this time of year. What is weird are the low temperatures: we're running 10° to 20° lower than normal, dipping into the low teens. It's been playing hell on the perennials — they'd awakened from dormancy early as February and early March were 10° to 20° warmer than normal.
Picture heavy today, kids: have a ton of new bulbs to show off.
Right before we left, the white double-hyacinth (Double Madame Sophie) pictured above the fold bloomed; in fact, we were gone for the height of the hyacinth, and with the snow and extreme cold, some of the flowers were pretty beat up by the time we got back.
Some of you may recall that last year I ordered a boatload of antique bulbs from Old House Gardens. Being used to the wholesale prices at Van Engelen, I winced at the prices.
But jeez, are they worth it. I have hyacinth and daffodils in forms and colors which are stupendously different. Where I can, I've identified the varieties, but there are a few that I can't find on the online-catalog.
Along with the double white hyacinth, there are double pink (Double Chestnut) and double blue (Double General Kohler).
And the colors! I have shades and nuances I didn't know were possible in hyacinth. This one (not sure of the name) is a beautiful, pure coral shade (it doesn't photograph well) — what I imagined Gypsy Queen (which I don't like much) would be. It positively glows with color.
Then there's this purpley-fuchsia one (another I can't find the name for). I'm very fond of the hyacinth with the dark stripes down the center of the florets; it adds depth of color and form.
Then there's this one — "King of the Blues". It is, per Old House Gardens, a very rare, very old hyacinth, of such a deep purple it appears almost black in real life. It got pretty beat up by the cold and snow and was past its peak when I took the photo — but I had to include it.
I also planted a slew of antique daffodils — the one on the right is Erlicheer, but I don't know what the one on the left is. Old House Gardens has a huge collection of different types — many of which are suitable for growing in the south.
I haven't gone into everything which has been going on in my garden, but I had to do a catch up round on last fall's experimental planting. If you're intrigued by any of these plantings, I high recommend signing up for the Old House Gardens e-mail newsletter, so you'll be informed when they have bulbs available for fall planting. They run out of stuff — there were three types of hyacinth and 2 of daffodil which I ordered but didn't receive because either the bulb crop failed, or they ran out.
Thanks to Welso (can you drop me your snail-mail again, so I can send the asters?) and Blue Jersey Mom (whose asters were hand delivered!) for filling in while I was away!
That's (some of) what's happening here. What's going on in your gardens?