The first tiny bloom peeping through the ice and snow proves that winter’s strength is broken, that the earth is warming, and that spring is near.
Often, in my West Virginia little bulb garden, Iris Danfordiae is the first to proclaim the joyful news of spring.
This rich-yellow elfin iris sometimes appears as early as late February. Growing only 3” inches tall, it looks like a bit of gold dropped on the barren winter earth.
Low-Growing and Early-Flowering Irises
Other low-growing and early-flowering iris are the bright blue-purple Iris histrioides major and the orange-crested, pearly Iris Vartanii alba.
A personal favorite of mine is Iris reticulata, which blooms with the early crocus. It is easy to grow and care for.
Its stiff green spears, thrusting through the half-frozen ground, are always a happy surprise in March. Its purple flowers are replicas in miniature of the Dutch iris.
Other varieties of iris, such as the reddish-purple Iris S. DLIT and the pale-blue CANTAB, are available, but I think Iris reticulata is the loveliest. It glows with life and color in the bare spring garden.
When brought indoors, all iris of the reticulata type perfume the air with a violet-like sweetness.
The bulbs need a dry location and protection from the harsh winter weather.
Reticulate iris does well near Iberis sempervirens, whose sprawling branches and evergreen foliage provide winter protection.
The bulbs are inexpensive, so no one needs to forego the pleasure of growing them.
Collector’s items, such as peacock iris (Iris pavonia) and Iris tuberose with its black-marked apple-green petals, distinguish the bed of iris in your garden.
Crocuses In Early Flowering
Despite freezing slush and snow, they bloom.
The gold-hued crocuses, such as Crocus susianus (cloth-of-gold), Crocus aureus, Crocus Korolkowi, and several varieties of Crocus chrysanthus, are especially cheerful in the wasted landscapes of early spring.
Purple, white, blue, and striped crocuses are charming but lack the warmth of the golden species and varieties.
All crocuses naturalize well, and they look best tucked under overhanging branches, which protect them from cold wind, rain, and snow.
Don’t confuse these early-flowering crocus species with the Dutch crocuses, which bloom later in the spring.
Blooming Winter-Aconite (Eranthis)
Winter-aconite (Eranthis) blooms in early March—a golden flower perched upon a circlet of slender leaves.
Eranthis Cilicia and the lighter-toned Eranthis hyemalis are splendid in the rock garden, and both do well under trees where, left undisturbed, they self-sow and form wide colonies.
The bulbs, which look like dried brown raisins, are planted in late September or October.
This year, the tightly curled foliage of my snowdrops (Galanthus) pricked through the ground on February 9, according to my garden log.
Shortly afterward, the stems hung out their nodding little bells. Neither ice nor snow can halt their flowering. They naturalize and multiply in cool, moist soil beneath trees or shrubs, giving pleasure for many years.
Adding Blue Tones
The blue tones of chionodoxa (glory-of-the-snow) and wood-hyacinths or squills, when spotted among golden winter-aconite and white snowdrops, create a garden that reflects the spring sky dotted with sun-streaked clouds.
Given moisture and sunlight, the Oriental chionodoxa prospers in most gardens. These white-centered blue and pink or pure-white flowers grow about 4-inches high.
When close planted, they make a sheet of color in early spring. Chionodoxa gigantea is one of the best species, for its clear light-blue flower is often as large as a half dollar.
Squills (scilla) are rose-pink, blue, and white. The small-flowered dwarf Scilla sibirica, which grows only 3” inches high, is adaptable to almost any garden spot.
A patch of a dozen bulbs set out between mossy stones along a forest path thrills the beholder with nodding little bells, blue as the spring sky.
The variety SPRING BEAUTY is said to be an improvement in the size of the florets, length of stem, and richness of color.
Spanish bluebells (Scilla hispanica sometimes called Scilla campanulata) bloom at about the same time as the May-flowering Darwin tulips.
This species grows at least a foot high with strap-like foliage and racemes of nodding bells in white, blue, or pink.
The varieties of purest color are the rose PRINCESS JULIANA, deep-blue DONAU, and the giant WHITE TRIUMPH, which produces many spikes of bloom from a single bulb. Scillas naturalize easily and grow well both under trees and in the sun.
The Hardy Anemone Is Too Rarely Grown
It is exceptionally pretty and listed in catalogs as both Anemone blanda and Anemone apennina (the difference is more apparent to botanists than gardeners).
It is a low-growing, fern-foliage plant studded with myriad star-shaped flowers in violet-blue, pink, and white.
The daisy-like flowers, which grow on 6-inch stems, and the delicate foliage contrast with the trumpeted bloom and stiff foliage of the early-flowering miniature daffodils.
These tiny daffodils are a joy to flower lovers who delight in small flowers’ exquisite form and minute perfection.
Each species is a unique fairy flower. The Narcissus Idbocodium varieties (all daffodils belong to the botanical genus Narcissus) are pale yellow and gold.
Both angel’s tears (Narcissus triandrus albus) and Narcissus canaliculatus have recurved white perianths but differ in form and color of the crown.
The golden Narcissus minimus is probably the smallest of all the miniature daffodils.
Tiny Narcissus JonquiIla, an amusing copy of the larger daffodils, was brought to this country by the early settlers.
It is now grown at Colonial Williamsburg in box-bordered beds with the simultaneously flowering violet-blue spring star-flower, Milla uniflorum, or as it is sometimes listed Triteleia uniflorum.
Late Corner Grape-Hyacinths
Grape-hyacinths (muscari) are among the late corners in my little bulb garden.
Though native to Mediterranean lands, grape-hyacinths have adapted themselves so well that they are thought rather “common” by American gardeners.
Their small racemes of closely studded, urn-shaped flowers bloom over a long period. The plants are not finicky as to the situation, multiply rapidly, and do not resent transplanting.
Fall bulbs, however, should be set out immediately. A bright blue Muscari azureum appears in my West Virginia garden about the first of March. Muscari armeniacum blooms later.
In my garden, I use it freely with yellow narcissus to edge a forest path, to frame a planting of yellow polyanthus, and for color contrast with iberis.
Muscari botryoides album blooms in cones of tiny white flowers like lustrous pearls. It needs mass planting for the best effect. Muscari plumosum, spikes of fringed violet bloom, is a peculiar-looking flower.
Snowflakes (leucojum) flower at about the same time as the grape-hyacinths. If let alone, the little bulbs, which recent disturbances, will form colonies.
Each tipped with a lively green dot from their foot-high stems droop white bells. A little shade pleases snowflakes.
Tulip Bulb Collections
No little bulb collection is complete without at least a few tulips.
Many species and varieties are now available, such as the Kaufmanniana hybrids, the dwarf Tulipa dasystemon which produces many flowers on each stem, Tulipa Clusiana, and many more. They are all permanent and need no special attention.
Trout lilies (erythronium) are spring woodland plants that thrive in shady nooks about the garden.
The yellow sorts are native to the eastern United States. Because their bulbs grow deep in the soil, it is simpler to buy bulbs than dig up and transplant the wild species and varieties.
Nurseries offer rose, pink, purple and yellow varieties.
Many Other Little Bulbs Bloom In The Spring
But the ones mentioned here are the easiest to grow and buy, and most are inexpensive.
Because they are small plants with dainty flowers, they need close planting. A dozen bulbs of a single species or variety will give a fine spring showing if planted in the early fall.
Extravagance in the initial purchase of little bulbs is justified, for they need be planted only once and, undisturbed, will multiply rapidly.
Some little bulbs demand special situations or soils. A little ingenuity on the gardener’s part can solve these problems.
Of help in properly locating the bulbs are the detailed instructions which most bulb dealers send out with orders.
Knowledge of the proper planting depth, spacing, soil, and situation contributes much to success with little bulbs.
44659 by Martha Haislip