MKozan, Although this is not on your list, in the 'burgh, Skunk Cabbage flowers will come up extremely early, if not the first, even pushing up through the snow. In fact, the flowers gives off so much heat, they will melt the snow around them. Pretty flowers if you have a very damp area. And a native wildflower so it naturalizes easily. Wildcat

Hi..... My experience with planting bulbs in S. Calif. has been that unless you're planting S. african bulbs....(i.e. if you have Tulips, Daffs, Crocus, and other temperate climate bulbs)......it's best to refrigerate them until Nov. (I usually planted mine the week-end after Thanksgiving.) Also, with daffs, look for bulbs that will do ok in s. California, as some varieties are better naturalizers in the landscape than others. (Most good garden catalogs have a selection of daffs that do better in warmer climates.) Almost ANY daffs you buy can be grown in pots. I usually bought some in the fall.....even on sale as late as december. I'd pot up about 6-12 to a 6" or 8" pot...then set them on a cool shady patio, no refrigerator was needed. They always bloomed for me just fine. These can later be planted in the ground, as well, but again, for the landscape, it's best to choose varieties that can do well in a warm climate. If the refrigeration thing is just too confusing.....treat yourself and let go of the more traditional ideas of a bulb garden. Plant some freesias, ixias, tritonias, watsonias, babianas or sparaxis. They're often much cheaper, they all put on a gorgeous display, and they're almost foolproof in S. california. A good place to read a great synopsis of how to have fun with bulbs in S. California: HP Books "Bulbs: How to Select, Grow & Enjoy" by George Harmon Scott Good Luck !

Rita, I look forward to seeing all your daffs and daylily blooms this year. I'm sure they will be beauties! I remember how much work you put into your gardens last year. Your daylilies, daffs and lupines. I was trying to clean up my front flower beds the other day when it was such a nice day and I spied some lupine foliage..Yeh! Don't recall what the plant ID tag said though. Maybe it's a bit early to start looking for any signs of foliage for a lot of perennials. See no signs of my coreposis coming back. Have a few daffs that are almost blooming and see signs of more bulbs popping through the ground. They could be either daffs or tulips. My Raspberry wine monarda, larkspurs, shasta daisies, oriental poppies are showing progress. This will be my first year having larkspurs and I hope it is many as has popped up. Surprized that the columbines haven't shown any signs of green leaves yet..maybe it's still a tad early. I did pull a lot of them up in the early Fall as they were reseeding everywhere. I'm anxious for Spring and Summer to come, although it means hard work but hopefully the fruits of our labor will be worth it all for the beauty it provides.

none I know of but here is an article which seems reasonable. In my experience growing them for f17 years, the first year you will get leaves c. 5' tall. They then naturalize so good for multiplying plants and general for a naturalistic style of garden Here is a link that might be useful: santa barbara gardens bulb comment