Paperwhites and Amaryllis

The paperwhites are blooming in the winter garden but I wonder if they will survive 3 nights of frost -unusual  for this part of the US to have for 3 consecutive nights to be in the 20s.  Well I picked some to be sure -they last well in vases too.  I also have the first of this year's blooming indoors as well as the gorgeous big Amaryllis.  It is so cheering to have blooms in December both inside and out.  The camellias are also in bloom and the berberis have gorgeous scarlet berries glowing brightly.

Feeding the birds is also a fun activity to keep their cheery chirps going at breakfast time.

Double daffodils, Iridescent Iris and Help???Mystery

What a glorious time of year -with so much in bloom and so much colour.  A twelve month garden is a must -every day is different, every day a joy to walk around and see what new leaf or bud has emerged.  And it is no so difficult to acheive with colorful barks and early blooming shrubs like Lonicera Frangrantissima and hammemalis and Edgeworthia to name just 4 ideas.  Of course the drawbacks are there too as the weeds also start to flourish -but the beauty outweighs the weed.  The daffodil above is the double Ice King.  It starts off more yellow in the centre then turns to white -heavenly!

And here is Crocus bluebird a dainty species crocus -only planted in late Dec.  Next winter it will bloom earlier.  And here is the lovely Iris reticulata

 

And what is this????  This daffodil and a few others like it are blooming in a clump of N. Ice Follies.  Is it a sport?  Has it reverted?  Or has a virus affected that clump of Ice Follies?  This is a real mystery daffodil.  Any ideas out there?

 

 

Delightful Daffodils

The daffodils are really starting to put on their show now.  They are popping up everywhere.  Above you see St Keverne, one of the early varieties. But there are many others too -such as the darling little Narc. Tete a Tete. This has been blooming for 2 or 3 weeks now -Gorgeous!  N. Ice Follies is also flowering well and the N. February Gold.  Iris reticulata and many of the species crocus are also showing their bright faces along with hyacinths and Triteleia (Ipheon).  You can't help but smile when you see such a beautiful patch of sunshine can you?

Dancing daffodils and Colourful Caladiums

The daffodils are definitely starting to provide a show now and my Narcissus Grand Soleil d'Or are STILL blooming -can you believe it - 2 months after the first brave bloom opened its eyes to the sun.  And we had another frost last night!  The garden is always an amazing place. There is always so much to see from the bark of the River birches and the changing hues and the leaves of evergreens, to the stunning winter blooming shrubs and the oh so many changing expressions of the winter garden.  The tiny leaves of miniature tulips are starting to show now also along with their mid-size cousins the Gregeiis, with their attractive mottled leaves.  The full size tulips will follow of course such a wonderful array of colour, but I do love those smaller varieties that bloom so early and perennialize in the south much better.

Of course this is also the time to plan that summer colour.  We go from the dark days of winter to the joy and dazzle of the spring blooms but then what?  Many, many summer flowering bulbs are available and now is the time to start ordering those.  Lilies, Cannas, Dahlias, Elephant ears, Calla Lilies, and those colorful Caladiums  to name but a few.  Have you tried using caladiums as summer ground cover? -awesome! And some types really will take full sun even here in the south.  Varieties such as the bright and bold large leaved Red Flash, White Queen, the strap leaf White Wing and the new Tapestry,even the more demure green and white Aaron also. Make a bold splash in the flowerbeds and of course the many shade preferring varieties can brighten up the shade gardens and add a glow of  white or a mass of colour to surprise and exclaim over.

Start working out what you need now and if you need help with choices or color schemes or ordering, make sure you check us out at www.marlborobulb.com or call us on 1-800-999-0567.  You can also email orders on info@marlborobulb.com

Wine garden

Wine garden, cocktail garden, 5 o'clock garden or, as my husband calls it -my acoholic garden!!!
Well, a garden should be a place to have fun and indulge in fancies.  Right?  I have a series of gardens in our one acre site and I have been asked quite a lot about my alcoholic garden. So here it is.

It is a corner of the garden where all the plants have the name of alcohol.  A great setting for a cocktail party don't you think?  The plant on the left is Atropurpurea 'Burgundy Glow' while out of site is an old apple tree with a wine bottle humming bird feeder and a parrot (5 o' clock somewhere and there is a sign with that on also!!) A red and a white grape grow over the home made arch and the wine bottles serve as edges as you can see.  Anyone know of any easy way to get rid of those wine labels??  The small berberis is Berberis thungbergii "Royal Burgundy" The lilies coming up  are Muscadet . I also have  Lilium Grand Cru in there.  Those gladioli are "Wine n Roses" and there is a Clematis Pink Champagne on the side fence with the Iceburg Rose (well it is stretching it a bit but you do need ice!) and another grape. The elephant ear Colocasia esculenta  "Mojito" obviously has a place there with tulips Burgundy Lace and T. Tequila Sunrise. The bright green little bush is Deutzia Chardonnay Pearl  and behind that is Viburnum Brandywine.  We also have Weigela Midnight Wine and W. Summer Wine.  Later we plant Caladium Brandywine en masse too with Tomato Brandywine. There are alcoholic day lilies and Heuchera, Ajuga, Bearded Iris, Canna etc etc.  I do need Narcissus Mint Julep though.  does anyone have any to swap?? Oh I now have Camellia 'Tama Vino' in there  too. The stepping stone -another of my fancies -each area has its quote- this one says
"......and wish to all
Flowers in the garden, meat in the hall,
A bin of wine, a spice of wit,
A house with lawns enclosing it" ! Robert Louis Stevenson
On a wooden table hidden in the background I wrote 'Eat Drink and be merry -for tomorrow we die" Ecclesiastes

With theme areas it is a fun to look for plants and it is amazing how lots of friends and colleagues join in the hunt. I am always being asked for updates at trade shows too.  So for all of you who have swapped acoholic plants for bulbs a big thank you and here you can see some of those treasures.  It is a great talking point.  From a gardening point of view it helps to break up the chore of weeding as you only have to concentrate one one area at a time and not get overwhelmed by the whole garden.
Last summer was the first of our now to be annual English Garden Parties .  I was born a Brit after all.  Hats are obligatory by the way!!!! Everyone loved dressing up and we had lots of requests to make it an annual event. So hats and croquet it is. 

Brave Delight

Narcissus Grand Soleil d'Or -At last you can see what I am talking about!!! (The feature to add a picture from my computer seems to have returned )This little treasure has been blooming since early December.  Just got back from the GGIA Atlanta trade show to a lyer of freezing rain on the roads around the Greenville SC area and temperatures around 26 degrees F and this morning these brave little souls have STILL perked up their heads in defiance of the weather to bring the sun out in the garden!!  I now have 3 blooms of Narcissus Rijnelds Early Sensation  too.  The smaller early daffodils make such wonderful landscape additions to cheer us onour way at this time of year.   They are so underused.   Similarly the miniature tulips are coming up and are a great additon to rock gardens and pots.  Once they start to bloom I will add their joyous faces to the blog.Crazy weather though -it is forecast to be 70degrees again by Tuesday.    How the  poor garden can cope with such dramatic variations never fails to amaze me.

Anyway, I brought back a beautiful specimen of Edgeworthia Winter Gold from our dear friends at Cam Too Camelia nursery in NC and some wonderful organic coffee and organic pecans from Cleveland Organics of GA.  You should check out their stuff I promise you it is worth it.  It was a good trade show, busy and as always, it was fun to see old friends and catch up with their news

And still planting!

Planted yet more daffodils -Carlton and the little cyclamineus Narcissus Jenny.  She is a little beauty with swept back white petals and pale lemon trumpets that fade to a creamy white.  The little species crocus are still blooming despite 26 degrees C on Friday night.  The Narcissus Grand Soleil d'Or likewise are still giving a great show.  They looked pretty flat and dejected on Saturday morning but soon recovered in the sunshine.  And the snowdrops -my goodness they have been incredible this winter.  The first ones were open on Dec 9th and I still have giant snowdrops in bloom.  The few muscari also have braved the cold so far to keep on blooming.  The first yellow crocus were open today -the species one E. P. Bowles.  People are missing out not planting more of the little species bulbs.  They may be smaller but they pack quite a punch at this time of year.  I love them. They are wonderful around trees and on rock gardens, in planters and in the front of borders.  Also if oyu have a mini Fairy garden as opposed to a micro mini you will find they look awesome there too.  If I could upload a photo I would.  Oh and before I forget, the first yellow daffodil Rijnveld's Early Sensation opened today  and there are quite a few in bud following on its heels.

Now I am having trouble uploading any photo -the option to browse the computer files seems to have disappeared.  Wish I were more of a hi-tech girl!  There must be an easy way to find my pictures.  So help needed again please!!!!

Happy Christmas to everyone. There are snowdrops blooming -so cheerful at this time of year.  The giant one seems to be the only one that really does well here in the south -in my garden at least but I do love them so.  If it stops raining long enough in the next couple of days I will take some photos!  There are also some narcissus Grand Soleil d'Or starting to open  What a cheery sight and even a couple of blue muscari -what are they thinking?  It is far too early for them.  They make great ground cover in the winter for the south, but even so they don't usually bloom until late March/April. 
Planted more daffodils and tulips yesterday in between showers!

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas day and very best wishes to all for the NewYear.  Happy Planting!

Well its time for the paperwhites to come into their own indoors.  Of course here in the South we can also plant them outside after they have finished blooming and after the last frost  in April here-they will then bloom outside in a sunny sheltered spot later next year -around mid Nov/early December.  These shown are our Super Paperwhites -they have bigger bulbs, bigger blooms, more stems per bulb and less fragrance than the usual Paperwhite Ziva  They are so lovely -try putting them in a Chritmas pot and surround with white chips for a surreal snow scene. 
Of course the Amaryllis are coming along too -but more on those another day -though we do have some stunning double pink and white Amaryllis Blossom Peacock -an unusual variety as it has a little FRAGRANCE too!  So call us while we still have some -1-800-999-0567 or email info@marlborobulb.com

Bulbs again

I hope the contrasting pictures help to prevent disappointment in planting bulbs that then don;t give a good show.  Even if you onlyhave a few bulbs -it is still much better to plant in clumps rather than try to spread them out too much.  for a more formal approach especially with tuilps you might like to plant staggered rows to give depth.  In other words plant one row  about 5 or 6 inches apart, then behind that plant a second row about 5 or 6 inches back and in the spaces from the first ones and if oyu have the bulbs plant a third row also.  Hope this helps.