Viewing comments posted by Newyorkrita

Iris reticulata has small but charming and lovely spring flowers that are quite short. These are really bulbs, but the flowers do look like other irises. Very, very early spring blooming.

Mine has gotten large over the years. About early to mid April it bursts out in full bloom. Covered in small while to pinkish white flowers. Unfortunately those flowers only last a few days till they drop. Still, very pretty in full bloom.

Rather an unkempt shrub most of the year, so I am always cutting back wayward branches, but Forsythia is worth the extra trouble. In spring, nothing can beat all of those cheery yellow blooms.

I remember years ago the Forsythias never had as many flowers as the more modern types. My neighbor grows Lynwood Gold and it is just a mass of yellow blooms each spring.

Cum Laude is the only split cup daffodil that I grow. Some years back I decided to try some newer types and bought Cum Laude from Brent & Becky's Bulbs. It is an unusual color and flower shape.

I just love the smaller flowers with the orange trumpets on this Cyclamineus class daffodil. The flowers always look like they are ready to take off in flight.

I like to grow onions from sets each spring as I like to use the green shoots for cooking and salads. Just look for the onion sets, usually sold by the pound, in local nurseries in the spring.

This year my sets didn't really set onions, so I just left them in ground and, much to my surprise, they started growing again in the fall.

Last fall I planted an Oriental Hyacinth mix that I bought from Colorblends. Came up really pretty this spring. I will wait and see whether they come up next spring, and if they do, how well they flower. Might just have to replant next fall.

Martinette has multiple blooms on each stem. The flowers themselves are quite small but the effect of a grouping of them is very striking.

Vivid jewel colors and lovely scent on the Hyacinth flowers.

Madame Lefeber is also known as Red Emperor. A very vivid and vibrant true-red bloom. You can't miss it! A tulip that should return year after year after year after year.

I love the color of the flowers of Big Chief -- luminous pink. That, combined with the really large blooms, makes Big Chief a standout wherever it blooms. This Darwin Tulip is very good at returning each spring.

Sun Dance is such a cheerful yellow bloom that I can't help but love it. On sunny days the flowers open wide and you really see the yellow interior. On cloudy days they stay closed and you get a better view of the red flamed outside.

Love these tiny blooms on this species tulip. It blooms very early, right after the crocus. And they really look like crocus also except that no crocus flowers come in this hot pink violet color.

Late spring brings the Azalea blooms. Some of my shrubs growing here in my garden are over 50 years old. Still looking fabulous each spring.

While the shrubs themselves are not overly pretty, nothing beats the scent of the spring blooms.

Arnold's Red is the only shrub form of Honeysuckle that I grow. All the rest are vines. Like other shrub Honeysuckles, Arnold's Red is a very fast-growing shrub. It has lovely red flowers in the late spring and then sporadically through the season.

Aronia comes in black fruited and red fruited varieties. Iroquois Beauty is one of the black fruited ones. A dwarf form, it makes a nice short shrub that stays short.

Advance is a really lovely crocus with a nice two toned effect. The flowers are brushed with color on the outside but open a paler colored interior.

I found Capree Elizabeth for sale at Brent & Becky's and have never seen it offered anywhere else. Had to have it when I saw the unusual coloring. There is a variation in color, with the flowers opening much lighter and then deepening in color as they age.