Winter Aconites and Fritillarea Meleagris In the Garden

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I added a few new bulbs last fall and am ever so happy I did. The three new to me bulbs are: snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), winter aconites (Eranthus hyemalis), and guinea hen or checkered lily (Fritillaria meleargris). I discovered the first two on blogs last year, but had heard of the last one and thought I'd give them a try. Since these three bulbs have a tendency to bloom very early I thought they'd be a nice addition to my garden.

The snowdrops gifted me with one single flower. I was rather disappointed but hope they'll get better with age. It usually works this way with plants and sometimes with humans as well. One can hope.

The aconites are a real joy. These little yellow flowers began blooming 17 March 2010 and are still going fairly strong. They are very diminutive but quite flashy in their bright yellow coloring on the north side of my home. I hope they spread around and form a nice colony.

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I was beginning to think the checkered lilies would be a no show when I spotted several buds ready to open in the garden. The foliage on these flowers is rather narrow and looks like a grass blade. You have to look closely to spy these little lilies. Fortunately I am getting better with siting bulbs and planted all of these little bulbs close to the front of the gardens so they can easily be seen.

I had initially expected all three of these plants to bloom earlier than anything else in the garden but that was not the case. The crocuses, hellebores, daffodils, all bloomed prior to the snowdrops; which began blooming here on 6 March 2010. The aconites and checkered lilies did not appear until a few weeks later after too many other plants to name had already been blooming. The snowdrop flower lasted all of about two days, while the aconites and checkered lilies have been blooming a few weeks now. Since I have been editing my gardening and being more choosy in what I grow I am carefully evaluating plants. In this case the snowdrops are the plant I could easily do without but I'm glad I've tried them and the other two new additions....

in the garden....

Any new additions to your garden showing up this spring?

From In the Garden

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In the Garden