March 2022

[Martin Bohnet]

One should really think March would generate some more flower pictures...

Anyway, let's compensate with diversity:

I'll open up with the freshly opened Fritillaria sewerzowii

, which is something different than the happily bubbly spring colors we can see everywhere. And staying in that color family, let's add Gethyum atropurpureum

.

Hepatica always had a slug problem for me, so investing in Japanese doubles may have been a sub-optimal idea. it seems I have to place another lure like this Vinca minor to finally see a flower after 3 years.

Talking about lures, the last one should lure Gastil in here - it's small, it's blue, what else could she want. I bought this as Hyacinthella lazulina

, but comparing it with Rimmer's picture, I'm not all that sure - even though we have the same source

Oh, and if all my plants look somewhat dirty: we were bathed in Sahara dust for the last few days - makes for a spectacular sky color, but a lot of dirt on practically everything.

[David Pilling]

If I was taking up gardening I would definitely grow more hepatica. I only got into them at the end, and they're still flowering.

[David Pilling]

Some photos from Sunday 20th March

[David Pilling]

Maybe this is why they call it the blues... I mentioned in the Fall that I had bought some blue tulips and that I thought they were probably a vendor's scheme to separate fools and their money. Turns out I was right, see the photo below of "Blue Parrot" with a Muscari for reference.

Finally, tapping in to the theory that if you have a forum with lots of pictures of blue plants you will get forum users who like blue plants, a couple of primroses.

[Diane Whitehead]

One of my thousand gardening books is A Book of Blue Flowers by Robert Geneve.

[Diane Whitehead]

Here is the same Nerine undulata posted in early January.  It is an incredibly long-lasting flower, and is finally setting seeds which will sow themselves into nearby pots if I don't remove them.

The length of bloomtime is very unusual as many South African flowers last for only a few hours.

[David Pilling]

Hi Diane, thanks for the pointer to the blue plant book, I feel I should buy a copy for someone. Good photo of the Nerine. The big ones last quite a while here, but all over by Christmas.

[Martin Bohnet]

For me it's Nerine masoniorum

that lasts  ages, though also in late fall/early winter - still spring is far more of a fun time for me, with daily changes in the garden. and David: beautiful Pleiones - Pleione 'Tongariro'

Height:	0-10 cm (0-3.9 inch)
Flower Colors:	pink, red
Flower Season:	mid spring

, I'd guess? Mine are starting to  grow buds, too - I'd guess I overwinter them far colder than you do.

Romuleas are borderline working for me - Romulea tempskyana

does not really seem to open up completely, even though it's warm, bright sunshine all week. Tulipa turkestanica

is a lot more reliable, likely because it is out in the garden, not in a pot.

I guess the wiki is behind with Pseudomuscari azureum

, PotW has them back as Muscari azureum

though the open bells really look different from classical Muscari. My real blue star is of course the Scilla formerly known as Chionodoxa, seeding around like mad. I love it that way.

[David Pilling]

Martin - I killed all my named pleiones. A friend gardened in the Midlands (it is colder away from the coast) and had this strain growing outside in clay. I've done my best to kill them, I've not looked after them at all well. It makes me think how could anyone buy such a hardy strain. Bulb suppliers will just want to sell varieties that are delicate.

As someone said "little blue jobs" the names are too confusing.

[David Pilling]

So parrot like they had to use the word twice. Are there parrot tulips - so parrot tulip "blue parrot".

[David Pilling]

I spotted this daffodil today, it is going to make me rich - and I will not have to work here anymore.

[Diane Whitehead]

Parrot is OK.  They got the colour wrong, though.

Nice daffodil but it would only make you rich if it were a snowdrop.

[David Pilling]

Diane - am I to think they put the wrong bulbs in the packet, or someone Photoshop-ed the image on it.

It says online "The Blue Parrot starts as a green bud tipped with purple and blooms into long flowering, bright violet extravaganza. Added to these many virtues, it is also (unusually for a tulip) fragrant."

Got to get out there and sniff it.

[Martin Bohnet]

Definitely a photoshop job - as far as i know the only true blue in the whole genus is Tulipa humilis

'Alba Coerulea Oculata'. Black parrot does live up to its name, but is among the very last tulips to flower for me. And I'm still in for Tongariro on the Pleione - some call it "beginner friendly", others call it borderline weedy. I'm really thinking of trying it outdoors, I have enough to spare.

That said I have to repeat: I love this time of the year, something happens almost every day. Ladies, Gentlemen and NBs please put on your earmuffs for Mandragora - really not sure what species or if there truly  are different species, even though this looks vastly different to @Uli 's Algarve pictures. Fully hardy in Germany for at least 4 years now.

Last year I wasn't sure of the ID, and maybe it was a different plant alltogether as they crowd a pot, but this definitely is Tropaeolum tricolor

. One of the pots I only pull in when frosts get serious (e.g. below -3°C)

First spring Orchid to flower for me is always Himantoglossum robertianum

Height:	45-80 cm (1.5-2.6 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, purple, white, patterned
Flower Season:	mid spring
Special:	fragrant
Life form:	tuber

which wasn't upset because of the minimal morning frosts but of course also stays frost free under lights for the more serious part of winter. Luckily, we're on the summer side of the planet now, so that problem shrinks away.

Talking about weather problems, it's already extremely dry here, which may explain the (too) compact growth of Corydalis nudicaulis

Height:	20-30 cm (0.7-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	white, brown, purple
Flower Season:	mid spring

and Anemone nemorosa

Height:	10-20 cm (3.9-7.9 inch)
Flower Colors:	white, pink, blue
Flower Season:	mid spring
Life form:	rhizome

in the last pic.

[Arnold]

Leucocoryne purpurea