Well, it's not much but they're blooms, damn it! Months have passed since I've had blooms to share for the monthly Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dreams Garden. But now, in the cold of February, I have 'Blue Jacket' hyacinths, which are following on the heels of the 'Woodstock' bulbs that have unfortunately faded away.
One of them is falling sideways, which I'm afraid is due to an insufficient cold period. So I have learned that not only should I start forcing earlier in the fall (rather than November like this past year), but I should also keep any 'Blue Jacket' bulbs cold for a full 11-12 weeks. Apparently 10 weeks is good for 'Woodstock' but not for everyone else.
The only other (tiny) bloom here--but it is a bloom--is this coleus flower. My coleus continues to defy my imagination with its robustness. I will feel awful when I finally allow the cold weather to remind this plant that in Illinois it's an annual. But hopefully that won't be until next fall. For now I should probably just cut it back a little before it devours its neighbors.
9 comments:
Spring will be here before we know it Rose! In the meantime your hyacinths are pretty (love that blue!) and I'll bet they smell wonderful. Good on you for having the foresight to chill them - I never seem to get around to forcing bulbs. Maybe next year. . . !
I like to leave the flowers on coleus sometimes - they're sweet. When they're outside, I've noticed how much pollinators seem to enjoy them too.
Your hyacinth look beautiful, Rose, and look like spring inside, even if the snow is falling again outside. They certainly have done better than my tulip bulbs, which I did chill, but then apparently didn't water enough. Your coleus also look like they're doing well this winter; with cuttings, you could keep this plant going for a long, long time.
It can't arrive too soon for my taste Rose! But seeing pretty hyacinths all over the blogasphere has helped my low spirits. Thank you very much;) gail
Mmm, hyacinths -- I can smell them from here! Happy GBBD!
Short bloom day but how fragrant it must be. I love the blue ones best.
Hyacinths are my fav, much nicer than paperwhites and not so pricey as amaryllis. Blue Jacket performs well in the garden, too.
Happy Bloom Day.
GG--This was my first year forcing bulbs, and while I made some rookie mistakes I'm still very glad I did it. Next year I will hopefully expand the efforts a little!
Rose--Thanks! They have provided a much needed bit of spring! I am interested to try tulips next year.
Gail--I'm glad they made you smile! Hang in there and spring will be here soon!
Caroline--Thanks, and same to you!
TG--The scent has been wonderful, just as nice as the flowers themselves.
NJ--They're my favorite too! I'm not a big fan of daffodils or amaryllis (gasp!), but the scent of hyacinths is just amazing, in my opinion.
Well no matter about the sideways hyacinth - it's still quite pretty. And I'm sure the fragrance makes up for it.
Hey, you have 2 plants in bloom, which is better than I did last month. I'm still waiting for my 'Blue Jacket' Hyacinth to start blooming. It's hard to start the bulbs for forcing earlier than November when we get an October with highs in the 80s. I refuse to give them any refridgerator space.
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