Spring bulbs, 1st round

crocus

Truth be told, in early spring I do not spend that much time in the backyard. For this, the Dutch climate is mainly to blame (today for example it is cold and raining). I do get the necessary jobs done, of course, but I do not usually sit in the garden enjoying the view. Which is why I tend to plant the early flowering spring bulbs close to the house – so close that I can see them from the dining room window preferably.

spring bulbs
Every fall I fill several containers with bulbs and place them right opposite our back door. There I know we will pass them every time we go outside and I can also see them from my desk in the dining room. After they have finished flowering, I lift the bulbs, let them dry and next fall plant them in the garden along the path. This way there are more bulbs flowering in the garden every year. I also lift some of the larger clumps of snowdrops after they have finished flowering, separate them and plant out again to increase the stock.

crocuses crocuses spring bulbs
I have looked through my past orders to find out which varieties of crocuses I have. So I can tell you that the purple crocuses are “Ruby Giant”, Flower Record”, “Pickwick” and “Vanguard” but other than “Pickwick” being the dashing striped one, I can no longer positively identify them. Ah well, they are all beautiful!
Likewise, I have several varieties of snowdrops, but I only remember that the showy double flowered one is “Flore Pleno”.

snowdrops
In fall I wrote about planting the large tub with a bulb lasagna and currently the top layer is flowering: the cheerfully yellow crocus “Yellow Mammoth” and white “Jeanne d’Arc”.

spring bulbs

crocus Yellow mammoth and Jeanne d'arc

crocuses

In another container I have planted Scilla mischtschenkoana which I love for its subtle scent that for some reason reminds me of my grandmother, together with Iris “Frank Elder”. Next year though I will plant them separately so that they do not have to share the spotlight.

scilla mischtschenkoana and iris frank elder scilla mischtschenkoana and iris frank elder
So, this was the first round of spring flowers, but there‘s more to come. The buds of narcissi are swelling and hyacinths are getting ready too. And hopefully the weather is about to improve as well!
Do you grow many spring bulbs too?

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