Spring Already?

Posted on by Gillian

Walking our dog in the sunshine this morning I saw signs of spring everywhere. There were wild flowers pushing their way through the leaf litter in the hedge bottoms. A patch of Cow Parsley was blooming… although their stems were little more than 15cm/6 inches tall. (A period of cold is required to produce long stems on some plants) Even the Honeysuckle and Elder were sending out new leaves in the hedge. It’s way too early!

Back at home the scent of spring flowers greeted me. A vase full of Hyacinths, Narcissi and Tulips in full bloom brightens up the hall. I didn’t grow these… most of my bulbs are sprouting in the garden but not flowering yet. Although we had a light frost this morning we need an extended cold period or the apple trees won’t flower and even the daffodils will rebel by producing short stems. And we don’t want that do we?

Spring-Bunch

You can force your bulbs to flower early. Just pot a few up and move them into a cold greenhouse or porch… somewhere cold with plenty of light. I have forced some Muscari bulbs in little pots in my unheated greenhouse. They produced some beautiful pale blue fragrant blooms. They do tend to stretch a little when you bring them into a warm house but it is so worthwhile to enjoy these beautiful flowers at close quarters.

Muscari-Collage

I can’t wait for spring to arrive. I am fed up of the rain now!

In the meantime I’m enjoying this beautiful bunch of scented English blooms.

Spring-Bunch-Landscape

This post was inspired by IN A VASE ON MONDAY by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

Thanks very much for reading, liking and commenting. I appreciate your visit! Gillian 🙂

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29 thoughts on “Spring Already?”

  1. Yes I am fed up with the rain too Gillian.. Here to daffodils are in bud.. Nature is about to get totally confused with a cold snap on the way.. Enjoy your week

  2. Hi Gillian, I should try forcing my Muscari, I have so many around the garden, it woul dbe nice to have some early blue flowers.

      1. My Iris reticulata today were forced, I just haven’t bothers with the Muscsri because there are so many on the garden……next year!

    1. We carried huge pots of geraniums into the house late last night when we saw that frost was forecast for this morning… I was expecting a few snails to greet me this morning but luckily no intruders so far!

      1. I have a couple of geraniums near the house that I am wondering if they might possibly make it through, but I guess we still have quite a few frosts to come.

      2. When they’ve flowered so well and reached a good size it’s hard to ditch them isn’t it? They can’t cope with hard frost so if you can’t move them just wrap a bit of horticultural fleece around them each time a frost is forecast.

      3. Yes they usually get hit by the frost, but yesterday I wrapped up the biggest one in a horticultural fleece bag I had left. Not sure I would manage to put these bags on and off all the time, do you know if there is a problem just leaving them on?

      4. Well everything needs light and air so if you left them on too long they would suffer. You can buy huge sheets (folded into tiny packets) of white horticultural fleece from Wilko (or similar inexpensive shops) for a couple of £ then just drape it over a batch of plants. In the morning it’s just a matter of removing one light large sheet which can be rolled up easily.

  4. What a fabulous spring vase…winter is in full swing again this week so no spring blooms here. But oh what a sight for sore eyes to see these spring blooms! And I can imagine the scent!

  6. Your early spring blooms are glorious, Gillian! In a “normal” year (if such a term is even valid anymore), we’d already be showing signs of spring here in southern California too but we’re having unusually cold weather and, despite El Nino, our rainfall has still been relatively light. Even some of my normal winter bloomers are behind schedule this year. Of course, our version of “cold” (upper 50sF or 13C) and yours are probably very different things.

    1. Thanks very much. Sorry to hear about your cold spell. There is no doubt that the weather is not performing as expected in most parts of the world.

  7. How come I didn’t realise that muscari were fragrant?! I have some more to plant as I belated bought some more bulbs to increase my options for blooms for Younger Daugheter’s wedding bouquet – they will be brought on in the greenhouse and a fragrance would be great addition to her bouquet, if they flower in time that is! Thanks for sharing, Gillian – and your spring bouquet is gorgeous, even if you didn’t grow them!

    1. Yes… they have a delicate scent and they would be lovely added to a wedding bouquet I’m sure. Good luck with getting the timing just right!

  9. I start wishing for spring as soon as the killing frosts hit. You seem to be already there, the bulb forcing looks like a great idea, I’m enjoying you lovely bouquet, Gillian.

    1. I do enjoy the changing seasons but I long for spring this year! Thanks for visiting and for your lovely comment Hannah.

  10. I can just imagine how wonderful it smells. You certainly have produced spring in a vase with your lovely arrangement. Just what we need as we go from wet and miserable to cold and miserable. Still there is so much to enjoy in the garden as a result of the unseasonal mild weather we have had.

  11. It was cold and clear where I am this morning – the first time I can remember it being like that this winter. I agree with you – roll on spring!

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