Despite the very strange, record-breaking warm winter we have had so far, there is very little blooming in my garden. The air is fragrant, because Edgeworthia chrysantha and Lonicera fragrantissima have started blooming a month or two early, and Osmanthus fragrans blooms whenever there is a long enough frost-free period for the buds to mature. A number of bulbs have started growing prematurely, but I expect they will be frozen down to the ground when a cold snap finally arrives next week. I doubt the crinums will come to any harm, but I am a little worried about the foliage of Lycoris longituba, as it is a Spring-foliage species. In the greenhouse, Hippeastrum papilio is blooming. Eucrosia mirabilis and Cyrtanthus stenanthus are in bud, while Clinanthus variegatus 'Apricot' has something that doesn't quite look like a leaf starting to emerge from the bulb--I hope it is an inflorescence. This will be first bloom for all three of them in my hands. The Cyrtanthus is about 15 months old from seed, while the Eucrosia and Clinanthus were purchased as small bulbs a couple of years ago. Nick Plummer Durham, North Carolina, USA. On Sat, Jan 2, 2016 at 1:21 PM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> wrote: > Noticing the birds in the garden on New Year's Day, I was reminded of the > annual "bird counts" done around the country (and I suppose in other > countries too). What is flowering in your garden this New Year weekend? If > you live in the Southern Hemisphere, plenty! However, we northerners have > sparser resources, at least those of us without heated greenhouses or > subtropical climates. > > Just looking at the open garden, where the paths crunch with the year's > very first hard frost, I find Galanthus cultivars (especially 'Dionysus'), > Cyclamen coum, Cyclamen trochopteranthum (and the possibly distinct > Cyclamen alpinum), and some winter shrubs (Chimonanthus praecox, Jasminum > nudiflorum, various Camellias, Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn', and > rosemary). In the bulb house, which has a solid roof but open mesh sides, > only Narcissus cantabricus and a few of its hybrids, a tiny white Colchicum > (species unknown), and Sternbergia fischeriana. > > I expect our correspondents in California can list dozens of bulbs, and > our correspondents in Minnesota may not like to read about it. All over the > world, this is an unusual year, warm and drenched for many of us. Most of > us in the Pacific Northwest live in hilly country where we're safe from > floods. I hope our friends in the US Midwest, where hills are not so > common, are safe too; and how are you doing in England? > > Jane McGary > Portland, Oregon, USA > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >