Early Spring Color in the Gardens
Spring is officially here and all the gardens are beginning to transform at my Bedford, New York farm.
It always amazes me how quickly plants can grow from day to day. I have crocuses, hellebores, irises, puschkinias, and many more. Here’s a glimpse at the flowers blooming in my gardens now.
Enjoy these photos.
-
- So much can change in just a couple of weeks. There are many more crocuses blooming around my farm.
-
- Crocus is an early season flower that pops up usually in shades of purple, yellow, and white. There are about 90 different species of crocus that originate from Southern Europe, Central Asia, China, the Middle East, and Africa. I have a dark purple crocus patch growing beneath some bald cypress trees across from my studio. These are big favorites here at the farm.
-
- Croci can be found in alpine meadows, rocky mountainsides, scrublands, and woodlands.
-
- Golden crocus bears vivid orange-yellow bowl-shaped flowers.
-
- And so many white crocus have naturalized beneath my allée of pin oaks.
-
- This crocus produces several upright, cup-like, purple and white striped blooms on stems rising to four to six inches above basal, grass-like leaves.
-
- The flowers close at night and open up in the morning, but usually remain closed on rainy or chilly cloudy days.
-
- Up in a field near what I call my “Contemporary House” is this – a large area of purple croci. It’s a sight to see every spring.
-
- There are also lots of irises blooming. These are dark purple irises. The blooms have a very light and subtle violet-like scent. Irises come from a vast genus of plants, but nearly all show the recognizable iris flower form – three standard petals and three hanging outer petals.
-
- These dwarf irises are good for use in borders, along walkways, by ponds, or woodland areas in mass plantings.
-
- This is ‘Natascha’ miniature iris – a lovely ice blue color. They bloom in early spring and grow to about four to six inches tall.
-
- And here it is in creamy yellow located in a small yellow garden bed near my chickens.
-
- Puschkinia is a genus of three known species of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae. It is native to the Caucasus and the Middle East. The leaves are green, strap-like, and grow in pairs. The flowers open in early spring in racemes up to about 10 inches high.
-
- I have puschkinia growing in a lot of beds, including a large patch near my Tenant House. Puschkinia is best grown in moist, fertile, well-draining soil in full sun to partial sunlight.
-
- Chionodoxa, known as glory-of-the-snow, is a small genus of bulbous perennial flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, often included in Scilla. The blue, white, or pink flowers appear early in the year. These are planted in the Stewartia garden under my majestic bald cypress trees.
-
- Squill or Siberian squill, is also known widely by its botanical name, Scilla. It is a spring bulb with green grass-like foliage and arching flower stalks that support one to three nodding blue or white flowers.
-
- And the hellebores continue to open down by my linden allée and up outside my Tenant House.
-
- Hellebores can come in a variety of flower forms – single, semi-double, fully double, and anemone.
-
- And do you recognize this? These are new fresh leaves on one of my tree peonies. The flowers won’t bloom until May, but they’ll soon be filled with foliage.
-
- The daffodil border that stretches along one side of my farm is growing fast. There are many daffodil varieties planted in large groupings, providing a stunning swath of color when in bloom. The original daffodil border was begun in 2003. I will continue to share more photos with you as more of my flowers emerge.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
