The what's blooming posts are fun and I envy those gardens with blooms this time of year. So Im posting what leaves are emerging instead. Most of my bulbs, all the summer deciduous ones, grow in my back yard so as not to offend the neighbors. Until the winter growing season, the bulb beds are barren dirt, covered by wire mesh, not a scene to display. These geophytes' leaves are EMERGING now: Babiana - in the park 1 mile away, these pleated leaves are already 6" high. Mine are just planted so not up yet. Chasmanthe - just emerging now, unwatered, ubiquitous in this neighborhood Habranthus - only one in the bed has leaves, orig. from UCSB teaching garden Ipheion - each bed emerged about 2 weeks after first soaking. Only about half the bulbs have sprouted within each bed. These are a mix of 'Wisley Blue' and other I. uniflorum (ordinary bulb catalog sources). Oxalis purpurea and O. pes caprae, the latter of which I could do without, are only up where watered. Scilla peruviana - first peeked thru 2 weeks ago, without water Sparaxis tricolor - tips just barely thru compost topping Veltheimia - V. bracteata potted one was up 1 week ago. Two in-ground, which I thought I lost to frost last year, were a welcome discovery while dividing the muscari planted over them. One has a 1/2 inch green shoot and the other is still dormant. Both are blooming-size bulbs. So Ive potted them to avoid the frost this winter. The in-ground two are from the UCSB teaching garden, unlabeled. Watsonia - watered beds emerged a month ago; un-watered are just now emerging. There are also a few other bulbs emerging for which I have no name. One might be a Lycoris. What's blooming: white Amaryllis belladonna, past their peak but fragrant from yards away Unk. little red Amaryllid-like thing, just about to open, with its white stigma sticking out. (one of the un-labeled UCSB teaching garden refugees) Here is a photo: http://flickr.com/photos/67537320@N06/… - Gastil Santa Barbara, California More mild and wet than normal years