Cherry Blossoms

There are cherry blossoms and then there are cherry blossoms. These are cherry blossoms. In the wild, cherry species generally have simple, white flowers. As most of us know, there is some pink in the gene pool and that has been exploited by those willing to take the time. Most of the pink cherry blossoms you see are still fairly small, simple flowers but borne in such profusion that their small size and simplicity is not a real drawback. This cherry, however, it one I really like. The flowers are huge by comparison (two inches across), with lots of frilly petals. The tree is still covered in pink but I think that it has an edge. Unfortunately, I have no idea what cultivar this is. The tree was here when we bought the house.

Narcissus 'Falconet'

I think I might have mentioned that I planted a few bulbs last fall. It’s something I do for Cathy’s birthday, which is in the late fall, but that she only really gets the reward from in the spring. Of course, it’s a cumulative thing, as the bulbs I plant come up year after year (or most do, there are a few that don’t last as long). I bought more than I actually got in the ground, unfortunately, which is a bit of a waste, but what I did plant are coming up and blooming.

This daffodil (Narcissus) is called ‘Falconet’ and I’m pretty pleased with it. Daffodils are classified into 13 divisions. Falconet is in division 8, the Tazetta daffodils, those which have the characteristics of the species Narcissus tazetta. They have fragrant flowers, with multiple (three to twenty) flowers per stem. Falconet, as you can see, is bright yellow with orange-red cups. It is also fairly tall, well over a foot, but on strong stems so they don’t seem to flop over, which I appreciate.

Daffodil ‘Actaea’

With apologies to The Knack.

This is the corona (the central trumpet) of a daffodil called ‘Actaea’ that I have growing along our sidewalk out front. It is in the poeticus division (division 9), which are distinguished by their large white petals and small, dainty cups in contrasting colors. This one is particularly nice, with its large, nearly pure white petals and with such a bright corona.

Rose Stem, Thorns, and Leaves

We had quite beautiful weather over the weekend. After the gorgeous but melancholy day yesterday, the rain we had today just seemed appropriate. I went out back when I got home from work and I took pictures of plants with water droplets on them, including this rose stem with the new growth of leaves that’s been growing strongly the last week and a half or so. This is a multiflora rose, or a natural hybrid with that as one parent. I dug it up in the woods near my office because it has the most lovely pink flowers. The canes don’t seem to be terribly long lived and last summer I spent a good while cutting dead wood out of it. This one does have some thorns on it and by the time I was done my arms were crisscrossed with scratches. Worth the effort, though.

Daffodil

This is one of the daffodils we have growing in our front garden and it is one of my favorites. I planted it the first fall we lived in this house and it has done really well. Each year there are more flowers than the last. Daffodils are great—they are amazingly hardy, the squirrels don’t dig them up to eat the bulbs, and they bloom in ever increasing profusion every year. If you don’t have daffodils in your yard, then you should. That’s my opinion.

Scilla siberica (Siberian Squill)

In the past I often got Scilla siberica confused with Chionodoxa forbesii (a.k.a. glory-of-the-snow). They really don’t look that much alike, except they are both small, ephemeral, blue flowered, perennial bulbs. The most obvious different, though, is that Scilla (or squill, not to be confused with Scylla) has downward facing flowers while Chionodoxa has mostly upward facing flowers. There are other more subtle differences. Seeing them side by side, you might wonder how anyone would mistake one for the other. In any case, I have them pretty well separated in my mind now.

Of course, deciding which of them I prefer is not so easy. They are both beautiful in their own way. I don’t suppose I have any great need to pick one over the other. I think both should be planted far more often than they are. They grow well, they are quite hardy, and they are beautiful. Do you need more than that? Well, if you do, how about the fact that Scilla siberica has blue pollen?

Daffodils In The Rain

The early daffodils were up last week and lots of other things are starting to appear. The maple trees are blooming and leaves are starting to appear on willow trees. We had a fair amount of rain last night and it continued throughout most of the day. When I got home it had stopped raining quite so hard but everything was wet. Of course ”it isn’t raining rain, you know, it’s raining violets.” And more daffodils. This is a daffodil called ‘Marieke’ and it’s one of the best. Of course, the rain does tend to knock it down a bit, but it’s still beautiful.

Pink Hyacinth

After our brief Easter interlude, we now return to our regularly scheduled spring, already in progress. There are a few hyacinths in bloom in our back garden. I planted a dozen more last fall but those are a little behind, as bulbs tend to be their first year. The old plants are already blooming, though. There were originally three each of pink and yellow, although one of the yellows has died (or was dug up by a squirrel). This (for those of you viewing it in black and white) is a pink one.