Here is a sampling of "tiny bulbs" that I love and wrote about in my
column that appeared in the New Jersey Herald on Sunday, March 22, 2015.
I consider all of these "easy to grow"...even though my snowdrops have not
multiplied into beautiful colonies, they do reseed themselves as volunteers
that pop up all around the bed they share with Canada violets.
Crocus tomasinianus
These species crocus have colonized throughout my garden.
They are smaller but much more generous than the larger Dutch crocus that
you often find as forced bulbs for sale in the middle of winter.
"Tommies", as the British call them, multiply quickly to form lovely
pools of color and life in the garden when we need it the most.
Crocus tomasinianus 'Ruby Giant'
These crocus simply appeared in the middle of a patch of oregano two days
before the First Day of Spring Snow Storm. Which means that seed from the
original 'Golden Cup' crocus I planted many years ago traveled
here on the wind or via insects or birds. You can also see some fresh
greens on the 'Herrenhausen' oregano it chose for a companion.
The large crocus is a Dutch hybrid and the smaller is C. tomasinianus 'Ruby Giant',
which looks quite blue in this photo, but is, I promise, very ruby-ish.
Winter aconites, Eranthus hyemalis, are members of the buttercup family
and often the first bulb to flower in some gardens.
But not in mine, for some reason.
When they are happy with the soil and left undisturbed, snowdrops can
multiply into large colonies. These naturalized snowdrops
were photographed many years ago at Skylands Botanical Garden.
These snowdrops grow at Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills and illustrate
that there are many variations is size, color and form.
From left to right: Galanthus lutea, G. elwesii 'Seagull', and
the double G. nivalis 'Blewberry Tart'.
Galanthus nivalis nivalis'Blewberry Tart'
These miniature irises grow from bulbs and, in my garden, often flower before
crocus do. From left to right: Iris reticulata,
Iris histrioides 'Kathrine Hodgkin', I. reticulata 'Harmony'
Iris histrioides 'George'
A group of 'Katharine Hodgkin' irises I purchased at Springfest last year.
Many of the miniature bulb irises are easy to grow in a pot
for winter bloom indoors.
'Lucile's Glory-of-the-Snow', Chionodoxa luciliae, is the largest of
the glories (it's species name was formerly gigantae)
'Tete e Tete' daffodils and 'Glory-of-the-Snow'
'Tete e Tete' is very often the daffodil you can find potted up and sold in
supermarkets during the winter. When persuaded to flower in mid winter,
it can grow 8-10 inches tall. In the garden, it grows to just 6 inches tall
and is the earliest daffodil to appear in my garden every spring.
Often, the flowers are hugging the ground when they open and the stem
continues to grow another few inches. Peeking out between two lavender
glories is a pink version of Chionodoxa luciliae.
This sweet and very fragrant miniature daffodil is called 'Minnow'.
It is very easy to force for winter bloom indoors.
It's not an "early bloomer--it flowers in mid to late May in my garden--but I
simply couldn't resist showing it to you.
Okay, so 'Sun Disc' isn't an early flowering daffodil either--but I really think
you want this sweetheart in your garden because 'Sun Disc' is a vigorous
blub--multiplies rather quickly--and fills the garden around it
with a most wonderful, sweet perfume.
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