Eranthis hyemalis, winter aconite or wolf's bane - wikipedia says it's a tuber, in the Ranunculaceae / buttercup family.

In past years these have bloomed around Valentine's day. This was taken March 1st, and I expect they'll open up this weekend, if it's sunny like it's supposed to be.

Very nice, I've seldom had good fortune with them.

anyone wanting gloriosa can find them at easy to grow bulbs co-op. if we get a few more orders they will be 30% off retail.

i have trouble with eremerus too. does anyone sell them when they are actively growing? the ones i have gotten were always somewhat dried.

Mike, the Winter Aconite are at about the same stage here too. Last year they were also in bloom on Valentines Day, seems spring is delayed all over the country this year. We're on our 3rd sunny day in a row, the temps gradually increasing each day from the 40s to the 50s, and I'm seeing a lot of response among the early bulbs, well...non-bulbs, LOL. Lots of Crocus had opened yesterday too.

jmorth, I wonder what has gone wrong with Winter Aconite for you? I have read they can take a couple of years to get established. I have some that came from Brent&Becky's a few years ago, the first year they were sparse, but they have now filled in nicely. I have some others from a friend's garden, and they didn't miss a beat- settled in and performed beautifully the first year.

Barb, I've never seen them sold in growth, but I've purchased 'Spring Valley hybrids' Eremurus from Brent&Becky's in the fall. They have performed beautifully. A few years ago I'd purchased some from Dutch Gardens, and they simply disappeared. I've read that is common among imported Dutch Foxtail lilies. B&B do carry imports, but I chose 'Spring Valley hybrids' because the catalog said they were hybridized and raised in the US- I figured they'd have an easier time adapting.

but why neal? seems to me it would be so much easier to have them green.

and another thing.........are you growing many different kinds of species glads?

have you ever bought seeds from silver hills in africa? i drool at the mouth when i think of these african flowers in bloom in their natural settings live and up close in africa. africa is the country i have dreamed of going to ever since i was a girl. edgar rice borroughs version for sure so i thought their was only a few thousand people with animals everywhere.

back on point again i don't have the time or space or prob. temperament to grow them from seeds. are you any good with starting seeds?

which flowers do you grow neal that are simply outstanding in your yard?

and that's it for now. polly k laughs at me because i ask so many questions. polly is such a sweet sounding name. and our polly sure is that.

Good question Barb, maybe Foxtail Lilies are just too tall when they bloom to keep in pots? Some of mine get 7-8' tall. They go dormant pretty quickly after the blooms go to seed. They do like to be on the dry side, in well drained soil. I can see any of these attributes keeping nurseries from growing them in pots.

I have been kinda getting into species Glads, and I have been playing with starting various bulb plants from seed the last few years. As a matter of fact, a friend in England sent me some species glads seeds that I started a couple of years ago. I realized after I'd started them that they are winter bloomers, which I don't really want to get into- I prefer those I can grow outside. Each winter the pot starts growing and I put them under lights. Well, to my surprise, I saw buds emerging from one this morning! I've never ordered from Silver Hills, but I believe these Glads were from leftover seed she had bought from them. They were easy to start and haven't given me any trouble.

Gosh, it would be hard to narrow down the most outstanding flowers in the yard- depends on what's blooming at the time, LOL. Foxtail Lilies do get a lot of comments and attention- most people have never seen them before. Lilies, of course, are probably the most outstanding, but that could be because there are 100s of them, LOL.

The bulbs get so wide they'd be hard to keep in pots. I've heard you have to plant them in the fall and make sure they're not too deep or in a wet spot. You can buy them in the spring but it seems those are always too dried up.

i know about the winter/summer blooming mess. i have to be taught it all over again every time i talk about it.

how tall are your plants? how many winters have they lived? do post a picture if you can do it easily.

do you have the eremerus growing in sand?

then not many people even up where yall are must grow eremerus? i traded a lot and nobody ever had eremerus. neal have you ever dug one up? while it was green and moved it? do you have to be careful when you dig them? when they are fresh are they the texture of tradescantia?

and what plants looks good with the lilies?

I'd like to hear more about the species glads. Especially about anyone growing them in more nothern conditions.

Thanks Barb for saying I'm sweet. You're right, some times I feel like I'm in front of a machine gun firing squad when you're asking questions, but I love ya anyway. You should have been the investigator, not me. Rat -a -tat -tat.

I think Buggy Crazy sells Foxtails; if they're anyway comparable to her lilies they probably measure greater than a foot across (tip to opposite tip). I amended the soil where I've grown mine to about a third sand content.

These little species glads are about 8" tall, well...that's the largest one that is budding. Many of the species are little guys. Some are said to be fragrant. I think I started these in spring of '07...or maybe it was '08? So 2 or 3 winters I've had them- they just sit dry in the pot over summer and fall, then at some point in winter I see sprouts and stick 'em under lights and start watering and fertilizing lightly.

I did move an Eremurus last year after it had started growing. I contacted Buggycrazy first and asked her if it could be done successfully. Its not advisable, but can be done with care- the roots are fragile and brittle, and spread out flat a foot or more wide. Mine went ahead and bloomed after being moved. The way the roots grow horizontally from the tuberous base makes me wonder if they would even fill a pot with roots the way most plants do? The way the roots just hover an inch or so beneath the soil makes me think they wouldn't- that could be another reason you don't see them sold that way.

Polly, I'd definitely like to try my hand at more species glads, but summer blooming varieties because they're easier for me to deal with. Look at these beauties:

http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/...

Nice selection there. Thanks Neal. Thay all say zone 7, but not so expensive I couldn't try a couple.

polly i'm going to write this company. hold on a day or two before you order. i forget telos every year.

neal i need another quick lesson....these glads from telos are mostly winter growers. that means the bulb is actively growing thru the winter and they will bloom in the spring like glad byzantium. they go dormant when it gets hot and they like it dry in the summer.

the ones that bloom in the fall are summer growers and can take more water in the summer, right? you don't have to go into it but do i have the general idea?

glads confuse me anyway. even the funeral glads should be hardy here but i almost never have glads return. however i know old house gardens have found old glads at old homeplaces so i know there are some that are fairly perennial.

Polly, most glads are listed as zone 7 hardy, but a lot return fairly well for me (planted deeply and mulched, the protection of a structure helps too). They do push themselves closer to the soil surface each year as a new corm forms on top of the old one, so eventually they are too shallow and perish in winter.

Barb, I believe the winter growers grow and bloom during the winter, and go dormant when it gets hot and dry. They do tolerate (or perhaps require?) more water during active growth. Curious that they don't return for you, certainly not a hardiness issue. Could critters be the problem?

not critters either. then i guess it's drainage.

well then it's the winter blooming glads that i wouldn't want, right? i will not have them inside. wallaby tried explaining this to me but it didn't stick. telos has mostly winter growing bulbs so i don't think i would want them.

Here is my Eremurus that I grew in Wisconsin. I planted some others but accidentally chopped into them while trying to plant some lily bulbs. Doh! It flowered the 2 years that I grew it. I was surprised it lived, because the little nub growing points stuck out of the soil all winter.
We moved, and I left it behind.

so it could be fatal if you injured their roots sounds like.

Here's the one I have in TN, it hasn't opened yet but I can't find a better photo. Yeah, it's sort of growing in sand.... which is kind of a funny story. Before we moved in, my husband took down a load of boxes and did some work, and when he came home he told me he got some dirt for a garden. I was immediately suspicious. He said the guy sold him some "river bottom soil" which would be full of nutritious organic matter. Ahem. When I finally got down there and took a look, I about fell over. It was sand, like sandbox sand. UGH. Nothing grew in it for several years, it is just starting to be a little fertile now.
I also have a giant kniphofia in it, the thing has never bloomed and I gave it a stern talking to this winter. Produce or else!!

I wish Eremurus were easier (for me) to grow, I just LOOVE them, and I think a big clump looks awesome.

i've never even seen them in real life. it would be a site to behold i am sure.

that is so funny about the sand.