GBBD: Crocus Carnival

I was sorely tempted to post the same collage as my last Blooms Day because the flowering kaleidoscope is essentially the same this month. However, that wouldn't do justice to the proliferation of crocus flowers which have exploded onto the scene over the past 10 days or so. So far they've not really had much of a look-in on previous Blooms Days: snowdrops and daffodils have tended to take the limelight for February's and March's posts respectively, but this year the daffodils have yet to bloom. It's the latest they've been in my time a-gardening and even the earliest ones (on February 9th a couple of years ago no less) are nowhere near trumpeting forth. I've also noticed the tips of some of their leaves are brown, probably a sign of frost damage and something I've not seen before.

So it's the crocuses which are cheering up my garden this March time and thus deserving the spotlight. Like my snowdrops I have massive clumps of them dotted around my front and back gardens, plus the odd one (second from top on the right) in the guerrilla garden. Crocus are another bulb (well, corm actually) which clump up and multiply rather well here. Bright sunshine is needed for them to show off their interiors and they've been a welcome sight for the bees visiting my garden today (see bottom left photo) and collecting their pollen as they go. I don't grow much in the way of variety crocus: most were a job lot of mixed cheap corms from Parkers which I planted in the garden's first year. I also have some C. tomassinianus which were a free gift with a magazine another year which have bulked up very well indeed. They're of the deep purple variety, which Mary Keen was a little disparaging about whilst she inspected the clump of them at Oxford Botanic Garden on Friday morning (she prefers the lighter form), but I still like them nevertheless.


Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Comments

  1. Hermes15 March 2010 at 08:34

    Gorgeous. I don't mind light or dark personally.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LITTLE BROWN DOG15 March 2010 at 12:51

    I love crocuses, too - a real confirmation of Spring. Unfortunately, my dog runs through ours, so they don't look as good as they might, but still, it's so good to have a splash of welcome colour after a long, cold winter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shirley15 March 2010 at 12:56

    Love the new look VP! Sorry, just remembered I need to mail you :-)

    Love the crocus collage too. I had intended doing collages too but went for a carnival of photos instead… just couldn’t crop them down any more! Happy Bloom Day :-D

    ReplyDelete
  4. petoskystone15 March 2010 at 13:02

    spring is nearby when the crocus nod thier heads! much more reliable than a long-term weather forecast.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jean Campbell15 March 2010 at 14:07

    It's the day of the crocus. Yours are lovely and well presented.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mr. McGregor's Daughter15 March 2010 at 15:11

    The Crocuses definitely like your garden, the clumps look wonderful. I don't know if it's my soil the Crocuses don't like or the predation of squirrels, but mine just haven't bulked up like that. I feel such a snob, as I have the valued form of C. tommasinianus. Had I known, I'd have posted a photo of them. ;^)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Monica the Garden Faerie15 March 2010 at 16:03

    My tiny stick of a witch hazel is blooming! And that's it. It's so nice to see the cheery crocuses. I love them very much, but so does my groundhog.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Christine B.15 March 2010 at 18:24

    Sheesh, "explosion" of crocuses...rub it in why don't you;) I've got nothing til all this snow melts: usually the tail end of April.

    Thanks for the collage cheer.

    Christine in Alaska

    ReplyDelete
  9. HappyMouffetard15 March 2010 at 19:03

    I just love seeing the crocuses at this time of year. They last such a short time, that I need to get a concentrated fix of them, so this month's GBBD has been just brilliant. And I love the deep, rich purples.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anna15 March 2010 at 21:13

    "And now before the eye can focus - crocus" - it's fascinating watching them tightly closed up in the morning and then opening as the day warms up. You have some little beauties there VP :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Diana Studer16 March 2010 at 20:35

    Oh good, you've got your LinkWithin sorted!

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP18 March 2010 at 09:09

    Hi everyone - lots of us went crocus mad this Blooms Day didn't they? ;)

    The day after Blooms Day, my first daffodils bloomed :)

    Shirl - good to see you and as you can see there's no hurry about emailing. I'd like to talk you about your own domain at some point though, but there's no rush.

    Elephant's Eye - Link Within is kinda sorted. I still have a spurious extra display of it, but I've managed to hide it so things look as they should for everyone else!

    ReplyDelete

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