Thursday, April 17, 2008

As Promised ... Daffodils!

I finally was able to get out after work today and snap some more pictures around the front garden areas and managed to catch a nice sunny moment to take these shots. At least the wind calmed down today and these were only subject to occasional breezes. Finally, the first Daffodils of the year have arrived and much happier than they were last year after being frozen for almost a month during that cold spell!

These were some of the very first Daffodils we planted back in ... well, let's jus
t say they've been there for probably about eight (?) years. This variety is called 'Dutch Masters,' which is just about my favorite Daffodil of all time. With their brilliant yellows that positively radiate in the sun, a nice tendency to naturalize freely and carefree non-maintenance ... what more could you ask for? And unlike their 'fancier' hybridized cousins, they come back true to form every year no matter what. We've come to disdain the latest and greatest varieties constantly in development because they just don't have the reliable longevity of the simpler, classic varieties. And the others just don't naturalize like you (well, WE) want them to ... usually after about 3-4 years they devolve and then just disappear. That's the same reason we tend to avoid the fancier tulips as well and stick with the tried and true Darwin varieties.

I also got some nice shots of the rapidly declining crocus --*sigh*-- and some of the perennials now emerging ... I may post some of those soon while we await the big tulip parade. As of today most of the columbines are up, as are the bleeding hearts and I also noticed that the Ligularia is poking through the ground. And with a high temperature of 78 today I'm sure more things are beginning to wake up ... unfortunately we're due to another few days with rain and cooler temperatures, but nothing in the freezing range and no mention of the 'S' word to be seen!

4 comments:

boran2 said...

Those are beauties, IVG. I haven't had daffodils for many years, I'll have to rethink our "garden".

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Glad you liked those B2, they're literally just getting going. We have probably about 100+ more that are getting ready (from that 2005 mega planting).

You really wouldn't need a huge amount of space to plant a few masses (but I'm sure your yard space is at a premium) this little bed shown is only about 3 ft in circumference and is also planted up with Liatris which comes up later. If you ever want (unsolicited?) advice on re-planning what space you have, just let me know. I love doing that kind of stuff, hehe. (Bet you never guessed, lol.)

olivia said...

Wow, wow, wow ... So much has happened/grown/bloomed in the last few days! :-O

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Yep it has, this rainy weather alternating with sunny days really has things shooting out of the ground. And I've not even gotten around to the perennials coming up that we've been documenting! Now if we could just get the rest of the clean up done and some seeds in soon ... *sigh*