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Springtime is definately the nicest time for me in Houston- The air is fresh, the weather warm, and the bulbs a-blooming. Just as in Britain, it is a bulb-fest...
The mosquitos, thunderstorms and oppressive heat are approaching though!
Our first bulb of the month is a hyacinth.
These fragrant wonders only rate as an annual in Houston - You have to store them for six weeks in the refrigerator so that they think its winter time, then you put them in the ground outside.
Last year we went for tulips, this year it was these.
The good thing about having bulbs which you can treat as annuals is that if you want you can put them in the shade, since they already have all the energy they need to make flowers and dont care that they are in sub-optimal conditions
Here is another hyacinth, fooled by the cruel "winter" it has just received -
I bet that it is wondering how it suddenly got so warm (mid 70's when the sun is out)...
Its almost a joke to compare this bulb to the glorious hyacinth, but its name (Grape Hyacinth) makes me compelled to compare them.
"Grape Hyacinth" loses in all categories, barring the fact that apparently a regular hyacinth can give you a rash on your hands if you touch the flowers!
Its nice enough in its own right though, and it was nice to see it (and its kin) return this month after last year - like so many bulbs, I had read that it would not survive to year 2 in Houston.
A vary curious 2-inch bulb appeared yesterday (march 18).
I posted a picture of it on the gardenweb forum ( www.gardenweb.com) and it was identified by someone there as also being a grape hyacinth.
If these chaps are prepared to grow without care, attention, or even being buried (see how it is sitting on the surface) then there is hope for me naturalizing them yet!
Its possibly the smallest flowering bulb I have ever seen, though
An un-identified daffodil which returned from last years 50-bulbs-for-5-dollars box.
It was the only one which made it into year two, along with the grape hyacinths.
Actually, I also have one of last years tulips which is trying to grow at the moment , but this year its come up as all-leaves and no flower.
All over houston I am seeing other peoples Irises blooming - mostly Siberian, Louisiana African Iris (I dont have either of the second two in my own yard, and only one pitiful specimin of the first, living open root in a wet area of the garden).
All we have are a number of bearded Iris - Again they are not commonly considered a plant that can be grown in Houston, but the previous house owner planted them and they have done very well in our front garden ever since.
All of the other Irises expand like crazy, so I dont have the nerve to let them get a toe hold in my garden.
Described on the label as a "pseudo bulb", this Bletillia, or chinese ground-orchid, came up and produced some nice flowers this month...
One last comment about some bulbs which everyone else has except me - maybe I will get some of them next year to make this month a bit more impressive!
Leucojum - snowdrop-like flowers which seem abundant in many gardens
Hymenocallis "Spider lily" - Growing in wet ditches and looking very bizarre
Daffodils - There are a number of gardens with daffodils in them right now, of the more traditional single-flowered type. Daffodils dont need a winter chill, so they can naturalize here.
One of the curious things is that there are no vast areas with bulbs in like there are in britain (like in my brothers pictures)- no gardens of crocuses, no woods full of snowdrops, and no grassy banks overflowing with daffodils - Perhaps when humanity has had a few hundred years to play with the local countryside we will get such delights!
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