Tag Archives: early bloom

attracting birds, bulbs, months 01-03: winter

Flower Count – day 4 – iris

03/04/2012 svseekins 6 Comments

I’m not spending much time outside today. There’s a chilly wind. It’s not raining, and for that, I’m grateful. I’m also grateful to be washing dishes, believe it or not. The hot, soapy water is warming my fingers. Handy.

The kitchen sink is also a handy place to stand & gaze out at the garden. When else do I take the time to stare out a window? For this reason, I’ve heavily planted this garden area with early bulbs.

Today I’m rewarded. Iris reticulata.

They’re quite small, only 4 to 6 inches high. Especially at this time of year, I’m thrilled with flowers of any size. These are bright enough to notice from my vantage point in the kitchen. Here I go again, to grab the camera & hunker down on the cold earth to get a closer look.

These are not my mother’s iris. Those have tubers running along at soil level, leaves that grow knee-high, and blooms in late spring. These miniature iris grow from bulbs, show little leaf at this point, and started to appear in late February! How can they even be related?

Mom’s iris are called Russian or Siberian iris – – maybe? I’ve since heard of Dutch iris, Japanese iris, and these Dwarf iris. Maybe there are even more kinds. Mind boggling. Either way, these iris reticulata are definitely the earliest in our garden.

dwarf iris & winter aconite — photo by SVSeekins

The deer seem to leave them alone, so I’ve also planted more bordering the driveway. That way we can appreciate them as we come & go.

Iris strike me as exotic, with such frilly petals & rich colour They seem so out-of-place in the cold. I can’t stop a big smile & I welcome them with a warm heart. Maybe I’ll stay out here just a little longer… I hear now’s a good time to feed the bulb beds with a little lime and bone meal to encourage more spring growth.

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attracting birds, evergreens, months 01-03: winter, natives, urban deer

Flower Count – day 3 – mahonia

03/03/2012 svseekins 5 Comments

It was early February when I ran across this burst of sunshine in Victoria.

mahonia in February — photo by SVSeekins

Mahonia is an evergreen shrub that boasts happy yellow flower clusters through winter.

This particular specimen is certainly more showy than the local mahonia (Oregon grape) that grows in our yard.

At this time of year the tall Oregon grape in our shrub border is only just preparing to bloom.

mahonia - tall Oregon grape in February — photo by SVSeekins

By summer it’ll be sporting dark berries. One of my favorite resource books, Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, tells that some use the berries to make jelly with real pucker power.

Oregon grape with berries — photo by SVSeekins

The leaves are shaped like holly, but aren’t nearly as hard and prickly.

I’ve seen full-sized holly trees, but mahonia only seem to come in shrubs or ground covers.

Holly berries are red, while mahonia’s are blue.

In some places, folks consider holly an invasive. I’ve not heard any such complaint about the mahonia.

Aside from watering it for the first summer after transplanting, Oregon grape seems happy here with no attention at all.

This one is a hard worker. It’s evergreen, so it’s interesting all year-long. The winter blooms feed hummingbirds. The summer fruit feeds other birds. The mild prickles deter deer. Who could ask for more?

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attracting birds, bulbs, months 01-03: winter

Flower Count – day 1 – eranthis

03/01/2012 svseekins 6 Comments

eranthis - winter aconite - between pots — photo by SVSeekins

After a few months of grey, drizzly days & dark, windy nights of the west coast winter, it’s not really a surprise to find me kneeling down in the wet to confirm a tiny flower sighting.

Even though the prairies are suffering through the deep freeze, they have sunny days to lift spirits. I’m just too wimpy about snow, so I tough it out on the west coast – – and I appreciate the sunshine that bursts from a little yellow bud.

That’s probably why Victoria promotes a flower count in the first week of March each year. It might seem obnoxious to the rest of Canada, but this is how we cope with the depression of the grey skies. Sorry.

Commonly called winter aconite, eranthis has a simple little flower. It blooms even before crocus. It’s not much, but if you’re looking for action this early in the year, eranthis is a good pick.

eranthis - winter aconite - in leafs — photo by SVSeekins

Garden shops stock eranthis bulbs in September & October for fall planting. Well, it’s not actually a bulb. When I first opened the package, I was a little concerned with the small, shrivelled bits. Perhaps they’re called corms? I’m not sure, but they’re certainly not like any bulbs I know. Which side is up? No pointy tip to place up. No roots to place down.

The hole was already dug, so with nothing to lose by throwing them in, I crossed my fingers.

eranthis - winter aconite cluster — photo by SVSeekins

Happily they survived.

And the deer leave them be! That’s another win. 🙂

Hopefully they’ll settle into this new home for the long-term. I know their blooms will pass, and even the leaves will die back by mid spring, but if they’re happy with the scene, and an occasional drink, I’m told they’ll naturalize & maybe even spread a bit. That would be nice.

Isn’t it a nice idea to look forward to such welcome visitors each winter?

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