A friend in Victoria BC sent me a picture of the first daffodil he had seen in bloom in 2024. (Not a big deal for many of you in even more temperate climes but even this blurry yellow is a harbinger of hope for us Canadians, of the flowers to come).

(Just curious, with a show of hands ;), who has had daffodils in full bloom in your garden in 2024?)

We've had daffodils in bloom for a couple of weeks now. My first to flower is February Gold. No pix from today because its pouring with rain. This was one of my window boxes on 21 January 2016. Very early that year.

This one was March 2nd 2015.

Thanks for that @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK.

(The hardiness zone (Canadian) of Victoria BC is 9....so similar to your location)

As a Hawaii native who now lives in the south- even in the transition zone with mild winter the few crocus bulbs i planted this past fall just cured my seasonal depression. I plan on planting hundreds more of all different kinds this year.

Here’s the few that started my newfound obsession. I’m surprised my pack of squirrels let them be.

It is only the crocus and snowdrops that have started to flower in the garden here -

The early daffodils are just starting to show their flower buds - it will be another month before the majority start getting daffy.

The Grand Soleil d'Or have been in bloom for the last month. They are potted and growing on my windowsill, does that qualify as the first narcissus to bloom in zone 5?!!

A few anemone coronaria have been blooming - only the whites though.

Ah, this time of year is extra thrilling for seed sowers - always something new every day...but pertaining to this thread, I was overjoyed to find 2 pots of persian buttercups have broken the surface. I am not really keen on those frilly double ranunculus, preferring the simple whites, and more rarely, yellows and red single, glowing blooms. Can only be had as seed.

I will try to list the spring seed germinations. (on 'Growing from Seed'). I promise myself to keep a decent seed sowing journal but like so many of my good intentions, this inevitably starts off well but collapses into scatty forgetfulness within a couple of weeks.

We had snow last night, turning to rain today. So far all I see is the foliage from Muscari (grape hyacinths). No daffs, no tulips, nothing else putting up any green yet. So much for being moved into zone 7a. 😊

What a discussion. Flowers in Feb. keep the pics coming!

More little crocus babies popped up to greet me this morning!

Couple of T. kaufmanniana now blooming in pots. Left over from last year. I'd forgotten they were in there. I didn't plant any last autumn because the squirrels ate so many.

You can actually see a few bulbs were dug up by our squirrel friends who clean out our white oaks. I see a few hosta shoots coming up already 😅

Winter aconite in my woods here in east central Indiana

No tulips here in zone 6 CT, but the foliage is up and the buds are forming. Usually my earliest tulips are late February to mid-March. Sometimes in warmer years they start in mid-February, and honestly given how mild the winters have been in general over the last few years, I'm kind of surprised the February Golds, Tete-a-Tetes, Early Sensations, and Rip Van Winkles, etc., are not in bloom earlier.

I don't even have any crocuses in bloom yet, which is disappointing too. A handful of snowdrops, which were admittedly a nice surprise, are in bloom though.

:)

Dee

Hilltop in the Cotswolds yesterday.

Not bulbs, but a sign of spring.

Wild primroses.

'katob' I thought of your thread when I spied our first lonely Winter Acconite this morning...weeks ahead of its usual arrival...scary stuff I say.

Tulips have got going.

The snowdrops, species crocus and Iris reticulata are blooming here, this one is called 'Pixie' which is multiplying and making nice little groups - they smell good too.

@Jeb: your reticulatas are stunning!!

We got 25cm of snow yesterday and today, so it will be a while before we see any bulbs!

My bulbs are blooming in Southern California. Babiana villosa grandis (red), a Lachenalia near the end of its bloom, and Tulipa cretica ’Hilde’. What’s making me smile the most in my garden today are the yellow daffodils that return each year, even in USDA zone 10b. They are either Malvern City or Happy Hana Banana, I planted both.

socalgal - your bulbs are really beautiful! I have Heliophila (the blue flower) envy!

Wouldn't it be cool to keep this thread going all season - the name of this post is a year of bulbs, lets keep it going!

Jealous. I. reticulata doesn't last past its first year for me and two of the other species have to be grown under glass here.

@socalgal: those are beautiful! I especially like your babianas, such a vibrant color! I had never heard of them before, will google! :)

I have bulbs blooming most months of the year. My bulb season starts in July.

August: Lycoris, Cyclamen africanum

September: Cyclamen graecum, Rhodophiala bifida

October: Sternbergia lutea

November: Lachenalia corymbosa

December: Lachenalia viridiflora

January: Narcissus (small-flowered)

February: Lachenalia ”Namakwa” (African Beauty series), start of Daffodils

March: Daffodils, Babiana, Freesia, Dutch Iris, Hippeastrum papilio, species tulips

April: Ixia ”buttercup”, Watsonia humilis, Sparaxis bulbifer, Tritonia, Leucocoryne

May: Lilium Royal Sunset

Two more which I'm sure you could grow are Hesperanth coccinea (Autumn) and Sisyrinchium striatum (Summer). Both grow happily here.

Wish I could grow Freesias outdoors.

@floraluk2 Those both look pretty!

Lovely pics, socalgal and Jeb.

Spotted the first species tulips (lost label so NOID). The hoop petticoats are over but the coronaria anemones seem unseasonally early - just starting). Whilst there are signs of returning spring, the damp, greyness of a UK winter has encouraged me to extend knitting season for another month or so (starting some very long-winded Bohus-type sweater for daughter and a fast Noro knit for me).

Am (again) tempted to grow babiana outside. Love the red flax, socalgal - one of my annual stalwarts (although I have a bit of a linum obsession and grow a lot of different sorts (tenuifolium, grandiflorum, rigidum, narbonense, lewisii, arboreum, cathartium, flavum, campanulatum off the top of my head)

I have seen i.reticulata return for other people...just not me.

Have tried watsonia and tritonium but they are easily killed and not that easy to raise (ime).

Time to get on with ordering the summer bulbs.

Some years, I grow heliophila longifolia as an annual, Jeb, but with so many seeds to choose, I forget about them for years on end. Looks for suppliers for this year.

Floraluk—your pictures are a JOY! What a beautiful Cotswalds view—so very lovely. Those crocus next to what looks like bush dogwood is a beautiful scene. Cyclamen are not hardy here. I envy all of you can plant it outdoors.

Gardengal, I hope you enjoy your new place. Moving is misery, but trilliums must be a wonderful balm.

Jeb, that photo is precious. I had NO interest in gardening till middle age. I am full of respect and awe at you who recognized its beauty from childhood.

katob, here is a picture of my only bulb blooming now. As I neared the end of planting OVER 1,000 BULBS last fall, like some kind of psychopath, I collapsed in a pool of snotty tears mumbling something about not planting another bulb in this lifetime. I’ve blocked the memory, so it’s hard to know exactly what I said. I think I remember saying *#&$*$#$@^&%$, or something like that, but it’s all so fuzzy now. But, the guilt from my parents’ childhood, one a farmer and the other just downright poor, meant I couldn’t throw out any bulbs. I found three at the bottom of a “to-do” corner of a drawer last month and potted them up. I had no choice—guilt required they be potted. So, today I have a tiny daffodil stretching up for the sun that isn’t there in enough quantity with four tiny blooms and one bud. Even though they are in the house, they are technically my first bulbs. There is also another shorter bulb sprouting, and if it’s a snowdrop I’m going to think of you.

I recommend the Power Planter Auger for those who order 1,000+ bulbs, like some kind of weirdo.

Katob—retirement or generational wealth…hmm…one requires the foresight of myself, and one requires the foresight of my ancestors. Please join me in wishing for a huge lottery cash-out. That’s my only hope by now. Mega-millions, here I come. I promise, I’ll share.

Outside these crocus survived 11 degrees a few nights ago. The rest are under the thick oak-leaf tarp (leaf compost my a$$—truly a tarp), but they’ll poke through.

O Deanna, your post was the first thing i read this morning, while still in my nightie and the autumn of 3000 bulbs came back to me in all it's stressful horror...altho I did hand over the offspring a 25kg sack each and tell them to get on with it. It is a job you only do once though, so well done you. All to look forward to.

Augers don't work on stony ground (ask me how I know).

I am a 'late to the table' gardener. It was stomped earth, dogs and kids until the last one hit adolescence. But when the obsession fell on me, it was with a mighty weight of need and desire. I never realised how many delights would come my way for a minimal outlay of £££ but a lot of time. How fortunate are we?

I also know about guilt and being poor, too.

So here is our patch of Winter Aconite today:

I checked their arrival in 2023 and the "identical" picture was snapped on March 28 (so over 3 weeks ahead of last year).

More bulbs growing and blooming today - it is so good to see things growing in the garden again

This is narcissus 'Small Talk' and it is 6" tall

More Iris reticulata

Narcissus 'Little Gem' - this grows only to about 5 - 6" tall but looks like a standard variety

My tulips grown for cut flowers to be taken to the market and sold this spring - they are protected from the rabbits, deer and the occasional stray water buffalo that love the tender new shoots

Tulip 'Juan' in its 2nd year - most of my tulips return as perennials and actually multiply at a good rate. My soil and weather conditions must be similar to the mountains of Turkey!

Pots of Bloodroot, crocus, and lilies

Narcissus 'Elka' - another mini daff

This is a new narcissus for me this year, it is called 'Breath of Spring' and it is very nice

Happy spring!!

Wow Jeb, they all look fantastic!! 🤩

I still don't have lots of daffodils in bloom yet, but these caught my eye as I was pulling out of my driveway. I have to go back and look at what I bought, but theses were newly planted last fall and I don't think they were supposed to be three inches tall lol. Perhaps it was the temperature swings that made them bloom so small??? You can kind of see a crocus right in front of them and the crocus is taller.

I think they are Tete-a-Tete daffs, which I know are small - I have some already from years ago - but even they are usually at least six inches tall.

Sorry, not great pictures- they were taken through the car window!

:)

Dee

So many of you are ahead of schedule. The Crocus, which are my first flowers in spring. Feels good!

And daffodil foliage next to the rocks is up the highest of any. Does my heart good to see the green.

These are pictures taken just a few minutes ago. Everything is three to four weeks ahead of schedule, most of the narcissus don't start blooming here usually until the first couple of weeks in April.

This is the double form of 'Tete-a-Tete' narcissus called 'Tete Boucle' - to me the flowers look like little pot scrubbers or pompoms. I am not sure about this variety, the single form is more graceful

This is an unknown older variety that was planted by my great grandmother.

'W.P. Milner' just starting to open, the open flowers will all nod downwards - narcissus looking at its reflection in a pool of water?

'Tweety Bird' is a very happy looking little narcissus growing under the Amelanchier

The tulips grown for cut flowers to be taken to market are coming along.. it won't be too long before they start to bloom

Hyacinths are just starting to flower, this one is holding its own in a patch of mertensia

'Woodstock' hyacinth - the flowers of hyacinths are kind of kooky looking to me growing out in the garden, but the fragrance transports me back in time to when I was a kid. Somehow it wouldn't be springtime without them!

Puschkinia (striped squill)

Scilla Siberica (Siberian Squill) This stuff spreads like crazy!

Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow)

Eremurus (Foxtail Lily) This is how it looks when it first comes up. Hoping to see flowers this year from these.

Beautiful pics, @Jeb and @sandyslopes z6 n. UT!! 😍

me too, Sandyslopes. Got 7 of them looking vigorous -first time growing these.

One of my favourites. Fritillaria meleagris. (Sadly not in my garden.)

Wild Wood Anemone, A. nemorosa.

Bloodroot:

Anemone Blanda (blue and purple)

I thought I had posted this earlier. Other than a special cultivar of crocosmia and several lilies, this trillium is the only bulbous plant to make the move to my new, still-in-the-creation-process garden.

Trillium chloropetalum giganteum 'Volcano'

It has been in bloom for at least a month.

Other than tulips, spring bulb season is pretty much over here.

Love the picture 'gg'....a gorgeous potted specimen. (I hope this is the first of many photos you will post here in 2024).

Ceylon Daffodils, they face outwards, which I really like. I planted them last fall, so they're putting on a good show this spring. They make me happy with their cheerful color where only white snow has been for many months!

SandySlopes, yours are beauties! I love them on the slope there. I have 'Ceylon' as well. I planted them in 2005 and they are still going strong. I've lifted and divided them a couple of times to increase them. I think I have enough now, so I only lift when they stop blooming well.

I also have Puschkinia and Scilla. I only added Pushkinia a couple of years ago and I'm waiting for that to spread.

Rouge I love your Anemone, very pretty! I always mean to add that it but I don't. I ordered a named variety once and it died out the first winter. But apparently yours is hardy. What kind of soil and sun exposure do they have?

So nice to see everyone’s bulbs! My year in bulbs continues with Ixia ”Buttercup,” Tulipa clusiana, Dutch iris (a little past their prime), Leucocoryne and (I think) Watsonia humilis

prariemoon, that's good to hear that your Ceylon daffs come back year after year, and that you've been able to increase their numbers over the years. That's what I'd like to do on this slope they're on.

Sandyslopes, Advice is usually to lift bulbs in the fall and move, but I find it is too easy to stick a shovel into a bulb when you are trying to guess where to dig. Instead, I always wait for the daffodils to finish blooming, allow the foliage to cure in place and just before the leaves disappear all together, I lift them and pot them up. It's always such a delight to see how many extra bulbs there are. Then I plant them where I want them in the Fall. I find that an easier way to do it.

Grape hyacinth. Glad it came back. Do these multiply and spread well?

L. Clark, Grape Hyacinth does spread nicely. But I can't tell if yours are the regular Hyacinths? They don't look like Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) in your pic, but I'm not sure of the scale. The other Hyacinths come back but usually not as full as their first blooms. Those dwindle over time.

I wish I had more tulips but the darn deer like them too much! Here's some they didn't find.

A fly photo-bombed my daffodil pic. :-)