@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. :-)

Bulbs are still coming.

Species tulips have been blooming a long time. A pink and white...

A red and yellow closed and open

A couple of Darwins that the deer missed with Spirea in the background

Muscari (grape hyacinth). The light blue is Valerie Finnis.

I hope to see what's blooming now in more of your gardens!

Lovely sandyslopes! I love the pink and white - are those Lady Jane? I've been eyeing those for awhile. The darwins in the spirea are a nice combo as well!

:)

Dee

Thanks Dee! The pink and white tulips are Peppermint Stick. It starts off a little more color saturated but isn't ever red, they're always pink and white for me.

These popped up in a few places. I forgot I planted them years ago. Hyacinthoides hispanica, Spanish Bluebells. Aggressive in some settings but not, so far, for me.

Allium White Giant planted last fall, eight out of ten came up and looked good.

But most of my regular alliums were a little weak this year. Some came back smaller, some made leaves but never flowered. Was it the rainy spring?

Sandyslopes I have some Spanish bluebells that I love. People have been saying they are aggressive and invasive, but I planted mine 25 years ago and they have not strayed from the exact spot I planted them in. The clumps have gotten slightly larger but no spreading. I guess I've got them in a good spot.

I always want to add alliums but the cost deters me - I always find something else I'd prefer to spend the money on, then wish I had gotten them when I see them in bloom elsewhere lol.

:)

Dee

My Royal Sunset lily is blooming now. I received this as a free gift, along with some begonia tubers. The begonias are long gone - I can’t get them to survive in storage during their dormancy. I’ve had the lily for years. I’ve tried to grow a few other Longiflorum Asiatic lilies but have had no luck with them.

Spanish bluebells spread rampantly by seed in my climate. I'm always pulling them out. Don't they self sow for you, diggerdee?

No, floral, they don't. I kind of don't get it as I see so many people raising the horror of Spanish bluebells! I planted these, obtained at a swap from a very experienced gardener, when I was a beginning gardener, and I swear they have barely changed in almost 30 years. As I said the clumps are a bit larger, but not a stray new seedling to be found. Ever.

And I watch them closely - or at least I did for many years after planting, once I heard how aggressive they were. I didn't want them going wild and so I watched to see if they needed to be ripped out before they took over. But nothing. Just the same, well-behaved, unchanging clumps in the same exact spots for almost 30 years. Go figure!

socalgal, nice lilies! I have not added any lilies to my garden in years - thank you, red lily leaf beetle! Just not worth it. I have some clumps of tiger lilies and something from eons ago that looks similar to a Stargazer, but that's it. Each year I hope that parasitic wasp they released a few years back makes it to my corner of the world but so far I guess not!

:)

Dee

Dee, the Spanish bluebells look good growing in clumps like yours have. Same story here. They stay in their original spot, but mine are in a bit of shade, which may help contain them.

As for Alliums, if you get Purple Sensation and let them go to seed, you’ll have lots more from your initial investment. That kind seems to be a good naturalizer for most people.

socalgirl, those lilies are very pretty the way they’re orange with pinkish edges. I have some solid orange ones (also Asiatic) that come back better than any others.

The awesome comments and updates here have been great, and my apologies for abandoning ship on this post but once it gets warmer and everything starts exploding in the garden, you know how that goes. August is as good as it gets though, and all the projects either happened or were abandoned and now I'm planning on sitting around and watching it all sink or swim until autumn. Bulbs are still going strong and since it's a 'year of bulbs' I guess it's never too late lol

Some hardy cyclamen are starting. These are C. purpurascens which are summer bloomers and usually keep foliage year round unless late spring turns real dry. I think they're hardy to maybe z6 and maybe 5 with some protection, and should bloom for a few weeks now.

And the surprise lilies are always a surprise to see if they actually bloom. One day they're not there and the next day the stalks are up a foot! This is Lycoris squamigera and should look nice for two or so weeks.

Hope your summer is going well!

My Cyclamen africanum is just starting to bloom, but not enough to be worth a photo. Tuberoses are also starting to bloom - too bad I can’t post the scent!

Tuber season here, with salvia, pelargoniums, dahlias and agapanthus coming back to life after the general July fade-out (and slashback). And ordering in for next spring season (species tulips again, all the way). And another coupla hundred anemones (coronaria) - the only anemones guaranteed to put on a show in the dry and unpromising soil here.

kato your cyclamen is nice. I do love this little plant and used to grow it but it petered out for me a few times and I gave up. That was many years ago so maybe it's due for another go. I love the foliage on it, and the pretty little flowers are the icing on the cake!

sandyslopes thanks for the tip on the Purple Sensation. Maybe I will try them and be patient!

Speaking of surprises, I JUST remembered that I DO have some kind of allium in my garden. I must have planted it almost 30 years ago, and I thought it had failed. And then one year it appeared. It appears every year in May and I always, ALWAYS forget about it and then there it is! It doesn't seem to spread but it makes an appearance every year, and every year I'm pleasantly surprised - again lol!

:)

Dee

I would be thrilled if Anemone coronaria were the only anemone I could grow! I love the dark center and bold colors, and perhaps I should also order a few just in case this winter is as mild as the last. That would be a wiser choice than trying to collect a few new forms of crown imperial... all based on the possibility that last year's bulbs look decent and at least haven't rotted away (yet).

That allium is doing well for you Dee! Mine always made a mess of tangled stems, but yours looks quite comfortable, and perhaps I should have tried some nice companion plants as well.

I forgot the eucomis which are flowering now. E. bicolor spent winter in the ground and although I got a little nervous when it was late coming up, it looks fine.

I have a few surprise lilies in my garden (lycoris) but they only do ok and usually don't seem happy here, but last week I made the two hour drive south to Chanticleer Gardens (just West of Philadelphia) and the Lycoris there were much happier! I finally caught the field in full bloom, it was great :)

Meadow filled with Lycoris squamigera:

Lycoris chinensis maybe

Lycoris sprengeri?

The surprise lilies don't bloom for more than two weeks, but it's fun having something pop up this time of year, looking all fresh and perfect when summer heat is starting to take its toll.

-unless your surprise lilies don't like you and don't bloom... then it's a little frustrating staring at an empty patch of ground wondering if they're going to bother this year...

Chanticleer is one of my favorite places!

Wow that meadow is beautiful! I'm sorry yours don't bloom for you kato!

:)

Dee

Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC also has a large planting of lycoris squamigera.

A friend who lives in a somewhat warmer area has surprise lilies, but she picks the flowers because she has heard that if you let them go to seed, they will not bloom the next year. Is this true?

I've never noticed a difference between deadheading and not deadheading. A friend makes a point of pollinating hers and sowing the seeds, and hers bloom every year but I think in general picking the flowers will put all of the plant's energy into getting ready for next year so pick away!

Thank you, Katob, I will let her know.