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?
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.
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.
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 🙂
