Friday, March 15, 2013

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day ~ March 2013

Crocus tommasinianus glorying in the sun today!
Welcome to Pennsylvania for March GBBD!
We live in US zone 5 and are just starting to enjoy our carpet of Crocus tommasinianus for spring. Crocuses are resilient little flowers, blooming in the sun for the bees and closing in the cold to protect their pollen. Not only that, but they can be open one week, closed for a week during snowfall, and then reopen again for another sunny day. That is exactly what happened this week in our garden.

Crocus tommasinianus naturalized in our lawn by the hundreds.
A bee's first meal: this patch of crocuses is covered in honey bees every March. After a long winter sleep, the bees are ready for nourishment. The crocuses take full advantage of the bees attention early in spring to make sure their seeds are pollinated each year.
As the gardener, my part if just keep from mowing this area of our lawn until the crocuses produces their seeds. This usually means waiting about 6 weeks past peak bloom to mow, which is easily done in our cold zone 5.
On the 13th, Crocus tommasinianus shut its petals tight. This solemn, snowy forest of crocuses waited for the sun to return.
Crocus tommasinianus in the snow.
Crocus tommasinianus re-open in our lawn and Back Woodland garden for GBBD.

Though we have had a few snowdrops in bloom since January, I count this swath of Crocus tommasinianus as the true start to our bloom schedule for the growing year at Gilmore Gardens.
For a sneak preview of what is to come, take a look at the many plantings around our small garden from past years.

See other blooms in our beautiful world for GBBD at May Dreams.
I hope you find some color for early spring in your area!

19 comments:

  1. Wow! What a show! The only color here is on my windowsill, but with warm sunny days, but still below freezing nights, the maple syrup makers are very happy.

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    1. Thanks! It is such a blessing to have inherited some many little crocuses in our garden from some long ago gardener. I am pleased to share :)
      ~Julie

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  2. Love all your crocus! Mine are in spotty bunches in a couple flowerbeds. I enjoy your lawn-full much more.

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  3. Oh my! What glorious color in your gardens! Isn't it amazing what a little sunshine will do? Truly magic!

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    1. Thanks Carolyn! It is magical. My kids just love looking at them all... and my husband & I love taking out chairs on the patio to enjoy the show with a cup of tea :)
      ~Julie

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  4. Absolutely stunning! What a beautiful drift of Tommies in your garden, that is how they should be seen, not just little clumps here and there. How many years did it take you to have so many seeding around?

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  5. Love seeing your crocus!!!:) so pretty and encouraging to see color!:)

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  6. Mine are completely covered by snow as it is snowing and will keep it up through late next week...I want my Tommies to look as gorgeous as yours one day.

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  7. Oooh, love it! I love the look of bulbs naturalized in lawns, though you definitely need lots of bulbs to pull it off (which you do very well). Someone in our neighborhood planted a few of the large-flowered crocus in their lawn - the occasional bloom sticking up looks like an abandoned easter egg hunt. Most of my lawn is needed for walking around the garden, so I won't be able to sacrifice it to bulbs. But I sure enjoy yours!

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  8. The look so beautiful!!! You have given me hope that spring is on the way!!!

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  9. Oh, I am swooning! What a great display! I planted 200 C. tommasinianus last fall and now I'm feeling that was way too chintzy!

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  10. So beautiful, I only have a few,but seeing these wonderful photos, I know I will have to include more on my fall order.

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  11. You have the best Crocus tommasinianus I have ever seen! Wonderful display, what a welcome to spring. I have to admit to being very disapointed with my Crocus. Christina

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  12. wow Julie these look fantastic, just soooo gorgeous ................ thanks for sharing, keep warm, Frances

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  13. That's incredible! Years ago I tried to get Chionodoxa to naturalize in the lawn. Although they still come up, they never really spread like I'd hoped. Maybe I'll try a few of these this fall. Beautiful!

    Happy GBBD!

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  14. Wow, what a very, very, very beautiful Crocus lawn you have. I am really jealous. I wonder how many years it took to get so many.

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  15. Wow, amazing, fantastic, superb, incredible! - did I miss out any adjectives?......Awesome!
    I don't think I've ever been impressed this much by Crocus before.

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  16. This is so beautiful!!! It must be a delight to have your lawn covered in these lilac treasures. They clearly love the conditions your lawn/soil is giving them.
    Marian

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