First snowdrops of the year!

Once again, the snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis, perce-neiges) are the first flowers in bloom in my neighbourhood, and once again, there are none in my garden (these are in a neighbour's yard). But I planted some last fall! I don't know where I put them, but I don't see any sign of them. Where did I go wrong?

Iris × hollandica 'Blue Pearl' bulbs

Iris × hollandica, known in English as "Dutch iris" and in French as iris de Hollande, is a bulbous perennial available in a variety of colours including blue violet (e.g. 'Blue Magic'), white (e.g. 'Casa Blanca'), yellow (e.g. 'Crown Jewel'), bronze (e.g. 'Bronze Beauty'), and more. These ones should be a rich blue violet.

Tulipa tarda bulbs

Tulipa tarda, known in English as "tarda tulip" or "species tulip" and in French as tulipe tarda or tulipe botanique, are bulbous perennials native to Turkey and the surrounding area. Unlike the usual hybrid tulips, species tulips will self-sow and are more perennial in nature (hybrids may come back in future years but often decline). Tarda tulips are petite plants with showy 6-petalled star-shaped flowers in yellow with white tips.

Galanthus nivalis bulbs

Last year snowdrops (perce-neige) were the very first flowers up in our neighbourhood, and very welcome after the long winter. (Last year, Helen's first snowdrop came up in late February!

Chionodoxa forbesii bulbs

More treasures from Veseys: Chionodoxa forbesii (glory-of-the-snow, gloire des neiges). These little beauties, native to Turkey, bear six-petalled light blue flowers in early spring—here are some photos at Dave's Garden. I've seen these in real life so I know they really are as pretty as the pictures!

Planning ahead for spring...

It's still summery these days, but it's also time to order bulbs to bloom next spring! Since last year I really wanted more early blooms, I've ordered

• Galanthus nivalis (snow drops, perce neige)
• Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl' (snow crocus, crocus de printemps):
• Crocus crysanthus 'Romance'
• Chionodoxa forbesii (glory of the snow, gloire des neiges)
• Tulipa tarda (species tulip, tulipe botanique)

I've also ordered

• Phlox paniculata 'Katherine' because I've really been taken with all the phlox I've seen in others' gardens.
• Iris x hollandica 'Blue Pearl', because I have a sentimental attachment to irises. My parents had a massive collection of bearded irises when I was growing up, and I was originally planning to order 'Victoria Falls' which is described as "cobalt blue". Luckily before I ordered it I checked the photos of 'Victoria Falls' at Dave's Garden, and found out that while it is pretty, it certainly is nowhere near the deep blue shown in the catalogue! So I went with the less nostalgia-inducing but much cheaper and bluer Dutch irises.¹
• Cyclamen hederifolium (hardy cyclamen, cyclamen à feuille de lierre) because I really wish I had some new flowers to look forward to in the fall, instead of just watching everything slowly go dormant or die.

What are you planning for spring?

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1. The worst example of a plant being radically different than the sellers' photos that I know of is the 'Replete' daffodil which is advertised as "rosy pink", with matching photo (presumably photoshopped) when it is actually peach (click the link to see a comparison of the catalogue photo with the actual flower). The moral of the story is if a plant is advertised as having a very unusual colour, be sure to check out photos taken by ordinary gardeners who are not trying to sell you something. I don't know why people lie about what colours plants are; all it will do is alienate their customers when they inevitably discover the truth. 'Replete' is a very pretty peach daffodil; why not advertise it honestly as such?

Lilium 'Dot Com' in gorgeous bloom

Nicky's lily is in bloom!

Lilium 'Dot Com': foliage

Lilium, known in English as "lilies" and in French as lys or lis, is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants native to Eurasia and North America.

'Dot Com' is a white/pale pink Asiatic lily with dark red dots. I bought the bulbs at Valumart (and only one came up out of three packages, so I don't recommend buying lily bulbs there).

Tulipa turkestanica: flowers

Tulipa turkestanica, known in English as "species tulips" and in French as tulipe botanique 'Turkestanica' is a flowering bulb native to Iran and Turkistan. It has 6 pointed petals, white with yellow at the base, and narrow wavy leaves.

This pretty clump is blooming in a talented neighbour's garden.

Yet another crocus

I debated whether I really needed to post a third crocus in one week, but this one was thoughtfully growing near the sidewalk so I could get a proper close-up. Click the photo to see full size! I love the way digital photography lets me see details of plants that I couldn't see with the naked eye.

More crocuses!

Today I saw more crocuses had come up down the street! I love the contrast of the purple and the vivid orange stamens and stigma.

Crocus flower!

Crocus is a genus of flowering corms native to Eurasia and north Africa. Most of them bloom in the early spring, in yellow, white, mauve, or purple.

Yesterday, after posting that nothing was in bloom in my area except for those snowdrops I've posted about three times already, I discovered this lovely little crocus blooming just down the street from me! (Sorry the picture is so small; I didn't want to trespass on someone else's garden so I had to photograph from a distance and use the zoom lens.)

Although I am very happy to see the crocuses are coming up, I'm also a bit sad because last year I'm sure my winter aconite was blooming before the crocuses, and I don't see it coming up. I'm afraid I may have killed it. Drat.

Galanthus nivalis: flowers

Galanthus nivalis, known in English as "garden snowdrop" or "common snowdrop" and in French as perce-neige, is a spring ephemeral perennial native to Europe. Its small white flowers with green markings are among the first blooms in gardens in the spring.

Here are some more fully developed snowdrops from that same garden on Woodbine where I photographed budding snowdrops last week.

Galanthus nivalis: buds

Galanthus nivalis, known in English as "garden snowdrop" or "common snowdrop" and in French as perce-neige, is a spring ephemeral perennial native to Europe. Its small white flowers with green markings are among the first blooms in gardens in the spring. These were photographed in a garden on Woodbine.

Puschkinia libanotica: flowers

Puschkinia libanotica, known in English as "snowdrift", "early stardrift", or "striped squill", and in French as scille de Liban, is a flowering bulb native to Asia and the Middle East. One of the earliest spring bloomers, it bears spikes of blue-white flowers, each petal having one blue stripe.

This gorgeous bed of snowdrift was at a neighbours. I'm glad I took a photo because soon afterward the new owner decided to rip out all of it (and all the other bulbs too) and replace it with sod. My landlords' kids and I attempted to rescue some of them, though how successful we were remains to be seen.