SPRING IN THE GARDEN
We’re a couple of weeks into a kitchen renovation so apologies for the lack of posts! Even with all of the chaos inside the house I’ve luckily been able to sneak away a few times to grab some new perennials, plant a few more seeds, and enjoy early spring in the garden.
Autumn Abi did a great thing and planted a ton of new bulbs throughout the garden. I got an order from Dutch Grown and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything so far. After my crocuses fizzled out at the end of March, these bulbs have been keeping me entertained.
Chionodoxa Lucilea (Glory of the Snow) has been so delightful. I had 100 of these tiny bulbs and planted them in small clumps throughout my front yard. They started blooming around March 28th and lasted about two weeks.
Leucojum Gravetye Giant (Giant Snowflake) are basically big snowdrops and they are also fantastic. They started popping up at the end of March, started blooming the first week of April, and are still in bloom now, 3 weeks later. [early-May update: these things are still going strong! They’re definitely the most long-lasting bulbs I planted. We easily got 4-5 weeks of enjoyment out of them. They’re a winner!]
Daffodil British Gamble was my only semi-failure. I potted most of these gals up in containers in the fall but they definitely got too much moisture with all the snow we had this winter. So those rotted, whoops. However, I luckily planted a couple extras into the landscape and they’re definitely my all-time favorite daffodil. They started blooming in a wave after the Chionodoxa, during the first week of April and are still in bloom 2 weeks later.
I also planted some Mixed Dutch Iris that have been putting on growth but haven’t bloomed yet. They’re a mid- to late-spring bloomer so I hope they’ll provide some nice May interest while the perennials are still waking up.
Spring in my front garden has always been lovely, so the addition of the bulbs really kicked it up a notch. We are fortunate enough to have a beautiful Magnolia tree, a tree I don’t know the name of but is absolutely full of white blooms every spring, and other bulbs that came with the property. I also planted some pansies from seed last October, moved them out to the mini greenhouse in January, and then moved them outside in March and they are loving life.
I also got my hands on a trio of Hellebores (the Frostkiss Dorothy’s Dawn variety). They were budded up when I planted them on April 3rd and have been blooming beautifully in the weeks since. They’re deer resistant, along with all the bulbs mentioned above, so I would highly recommend them! Their blooms face down so I had the perfect spot for them in a garden bed on the side of our driveway that is ~4ft tall due to a retaining wall. That way I can still see the blooms when walking by.
Lastly, I started a few more seeds this week, which was a nice indoor activity to do while temperatures dropped into the thirties and there are frost warnings! These are all of my zinnias, cosmos, and sunflowers that I was planning on direct sowing (and can still do in a succession planting) but wanted to get them started off indoors so I can keep track of them better once planted. I find direct sowing in already-mulched garden beds a bit difficult since things can get a little lost, and keeping up with watering them multiple times per day when they aren’t buried deep into the ground isn’t something I want to take on. I also started some poppies for the first time and started some zucchini seeds.
Spring has sprung and it feels great (when it’s not thirty degrees out)! I’m very excited to watch the vegetables grow, get the backyard planted up with more shrubs and perennials, and landscape around the new vegetable garden. There’s lots more to come!