The latest daffodils

A few more daffodils are in bloom now and appeared in Yesterday's bouquets.

Going from top to bottom:

• 'Stratosphere' - the stem on this daffodil was actually 18 inches long. I had to cut it to get it in the picture with the others.
• 'Stainless' - a very pretty pure white.
• 'Tahiti' - yellow and orange double.
• 'Gay Kybo' - white and orange double. These are huge and really gorgeous. It looks more like a gardenia than a daffodil.
• 'Cool Flame' - this is the large one with the pinkish cup. You won't see many of these because the stems have been disappointingly short.
• 'Geranium' (white with orange cup) - quite late and a nice fragrance, though it has a hint of that paperwhite scent to it.
• 'Quail' (yellow, bottom right) - I really like this daffodil. It is fairly late, fragrant and a strong grower. The stems are bit short for cut flower purposes but it is very nice.

10,000 Daffodil Bulbs

Has anyone seen the Image/Align art installation at Nichols Arboretum? It was created in 2003 and is a half mile long line of 10,000 'Marieke' daffodil bulbs. You can see pictures and watch a video about it here.

I first saw a picture of this in the John Scheepers catalog a few years ago and maybe this year will remember to run out there and see them in bloom. I grow 'Marieke' and it won't be blooming for another week or so. I'll keep you posted.

Signs of Spring - Daffodils and a Hellebore

The weather has been so nice for the past few days that I've been busy working outside and have not had time to write anything. It is colder today so I'm back at the computer.

My first daffodils opened yesterday, April 8th. I don't grow any dwarf ones which bloom even earlier, but of the trumpet daffodils, the first one for me is always 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'.

There is nothing special about this daffodil other than it being the first one out of the gate in spring and I guess that alone makes it fairly special.

Besides the daffodil, I also have a Hellebore niger blooming really well.

I will write more about hellebores another time, but will mention that one of the things I like about them is that they do not grow from a bulb but still bloom really early when mostly only bulbs are flowering.