Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March 2008: Early Spring Bulbs for New Jersey (Zone 6b)

May Dreams Gardens (http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/) has a great monthly event where garden bloggers' post pictures of what is blooming in their garden on the fifteenth of each month. For the past several months, I've been meaning to take pictures and post them on my blog to participate, but the day comes and goes and...

Well, March fifteenth came and went, and you can check out other bloggers' posts here: http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/2008/03/bloom-day-list-and-new-bloom.html. It's wonderful to see what's blooming in other bloggers' gardens, particularly those in warmer gardening zones. Maybe on April fifteenth, I'll post my pictures on time.

In northern New Jersey (zone 6b), it's still pretty cold, but the early spring bulbs are out: snowdrops, winter aconite, and crocuses.

Snowdrops: Next year--Inspired by Wisley (http://www.rhs.org.uk/WhatsOn/Gardens/wisley/) in the UK--I want to plant thousands around my property. As I wrote in a prior post, "These small flowers are so cute and the first real sign that spring is coming. Given their size, you really can't plant too many of them--think hundreds. Since I like to plant a lot, I buy my snowdrops wholesale from Van Engelen (http://www.vanengelen.com/index.html). Once they come up, I cut small bunches for vases."

Winter Aconite: As I wrote in a prior post, "It took me a couple of years for me to get these established. I was most successful with bulbs from Old House Gardens (http://www.oldhousegardens.com/). I think the difference was that these bulbs dry out very easily and Old House Gardens coats the bulbs in a horticultural wax to prevent this. If you know someone with an established clump, it's best to beg a few in the green and replant them immediately in your garden."

Crocuses: Pictured is crocus tommasinianus, a smaller and early blooming crocus. The squirrels and chipmunks in my neighborhood love to eat crocus bulbs, but seem to leave these ones alone. The larger crocuses will bloom in several weeks. Like my snowdrops, I also buy these bulbs from from Van Engelen (http://www.vanengelen.com/index.html).