Not bad for a quarter

I’ve little doubt that ‘February Gold’ daffodils (Narcissus ‘February Gold’, below) flower in February, somewhere, but rarely does this occur in my northwestern Virginia garden. Typically, this event is delayed until the first week of March, occasionally the second, and this year the first hint of the yellow flowers was the first day of spring. Peak…

Bulbs in late February

There have been years when the clump of ‘February Gold’ daffodil (Narcissus ‘February Gold’) has flowered in February, but I don’t recall when. In most years the blooms arrive after other varieties that should flower weeks later. The blame, I suspect, is that ‘February Gold’ is somewhat shaded by a multi-trunked ‘Jane’ magnolia so that…

Bulbs for spring and autumn

When I first started the garden twenty some years ago I planted a few thousand bulbs in early autumn, mostly tulips, but also lots of daffodils and some spring flowering crocus. Occasionally I’d walk the area where the tulips were planted to find scattered divots where squirrels had pilfered the bulbs, but the first spring…

No daffodils in bloom

I believe that my garden is the only one within a hundred miles without a daffodil in bloom. My neighbors’ are flowering. Down the road, and across town I’m seeing a few here, and many more over there. My property is rather cold by nature, straddling a small creek that runs along the bottom land between hills that…