Sunshine On A Cloudy Day
Last Sunday was cloudy and cold, as I have already noted. But I was gladdened by a hardy handful of early blooming Daffodils in the Parkway Bed.
They were few in number, so it was just a little bit of sunshine, but they did brighten my day.
Not sure of the name, because they came from a free sack of 100 mixed bulbs from Colorblends. I just think of it as an early-blooming classic Trumpet Daffodil.
I also noted that the clump of ‘Early Harvest’ Tulips (Tulipa kaufmanniana) looked promising. Last year they were savaged by the Furry Long-Eared Demons. This year, however, I have doused them liberally with varmint repellent, which seems to be working.
These very early Tulips have bloomed in late March most years. This year they will be about a month later than normal. They are not rushing into anything, which is probably wise of them.
This is what greeted me on Monday morning. It took a day or two to melt. Meantime, I had to drive down to Springfield for the week. But I’ve been watching the weather reports, and things have warmed up a bit. The forecast for the weekend looks decent. I’m hoping to see a lot more sunshine when I get back home.
gardeninacity 
Those tulips are beautiful. I still miss them, but I’m not about to go through what you apparently have to go through to get them to thrive here: six weeks (or more) in the refrigerator, and so on. I read once that the president of the Houston Garden Club has about 4,000 tulips in her very large yard. I’ve never gone by to look but I should.
Thanks for the update – and thanks for the memories.
I’d definitely go see that if I lived in the area.
Your tulips are looking so bright and springlike, I hope your weather behaves and improves quickly.
They actually opened up today, so they look even better.
If I had that kind of weather at this point in the year, I’d leave home for a week, too! Seriously, though, those little tulips are lovely. Would you consider them a species tulip!
Technically Kaufmanniana Tulips have their own division (Division 12), species Tulips are Division 15. But they do have many qualities common to the Species Tulips.
We had sunshine yesterday, but it was still cold and windy. Maybe I can do some yard clean-up this weekend.
This weekend turned out pretty decent. Spent a lot of time in the garden.
I knew I could count on you to show me beautiful tulips. 🙂
Glad to fulfill positive expectations.
Hope you do. I would be furious, if I had to face this cold still…. Wish you a great + warm weekend!
Thanks!
Such pretty tulips! The forecast is looking good for next week, so maybe I will finally have some tulip blooms as well.
I have only ‘Early Harvest’ so far. None of the other Tulips are even close. In fact, I still have only a handful of Daffodils.
It is such a delight to see cheery daffodils, and your tulips are charming. I thought you grew all your tulips in pots.
Most of them, not all.
Those tulips and daffodils are a joy to see. In Maine, it has been the same way with the weather as in your neck of the woods. We are a month behind where we normally are. But last night we heard peepers. a sure sign of spring.
Any sign of progress is welcome.
You bet!
Sweet signs that at least your gorgeous daffodils and tulips think it’s spring even though Father Winter doesn’t seem to have received the memo. Hope you have sunshine and more blooms when you return!
This past weekend was decent but Daffodils still holding back except for a handful.
Hope winter releases its hold soon. The tulips look gorgeous.
They actually opened up this weekend.
I don’t grow tulips but otherwise I could have written this post because our weather is the same as yours.
Nice to see flowers though, even if they do come with a dusting of snow.
Looks like you’ve had a few blooms lately.
It is almost May. Snow sees crazy.
It’s certainly driving me crazy.
The tulips are lovely… This has got to be the beginning of spring for you … Despite the winter wonderland in your garden..
I certainly hope so.
The first blooms are always so highly anticipated – a sign that spring is here (for the most part!). I have a couple of inches of green poking through the soil where some unnamed daffodils are planted (that were already here when we moved in), but that’s about it. I’m wondering if the warm up this week will be enough to speed things along so that I actually see some blooms before leaving for Austin.
There’s been definite, if rather slow, progress the last few days.
The long-eared demons ate the tips of the greens of my tulips this year but thankfully they didn’t eat the blooms. So my tulips survived so far. I hope that sunshine spreads through out the Midwest this weekend. It is certainly going to be warmer and I am looking forward to it. I believe I am going to resort to varmint repellent for my pots to keep the squirrels from digging in them.
Same here – the smell doesn’t last too long.
Glad to see your first tulips are showing colour Jason. I do hope this weekend has warmed up a bit for you!
This past weekend was decent – the next one could be the breakthrough.
Weather gets warmer Jason, I see your tulips started to bloom, great!
Happy Sunday!
Happy Spring to you, Nadezda!
That’s going to look great once you get a warm day. Lets hope this is it for the snow!!!
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Hi again Jason … we are the same as you , about a month behind what we should be .. but having said that .. yesterday and today we have had temps up to 15 and 16 C .. sun and no wind so it was perfect for doing garden clean up .. but some how when you are planting and I am not, I think you might be ahead of us now .. Spring won’t last long before we are headlong into summer .. BIG sigh ! LOL
That’s what I fear – I want spring to last once it gets here.
I really wish you soon wonderful and warm spring days, Jason!
Thanks, Sigrid!
Oh dear god….that snow, I thought we were behind! Love the daffs, a couple of rays of sunshine, so badly needed. Tulips looking good too, mine never come up after the second year.xxx
I replace the Tulip bulbs in pots every year. The species Tulips are pretty perennial.
Those are lovely small tulips but it is dismaying to see snow on them again. Spring is late this year and it’s held a lot back. I hope the weather warms up for you soon!