zone 6b - Knoxville
Not surprisingly, given the season, not much is happening here in my yard. Lots of shivering plants awaiting spring. I have loads of bulbs that are regretting their decision to pop up early. Might end up with some frost-burned foliage before this winter is over.

The recent rains have left standing water in parts of the yard, so I guess that means drainage projects are going on this year's to-do list.

NOTHING. Nada, zip, zero.

Wah!

nothing blooming but I do see something coming up. I don't know what it is cause this is only my second month in this house but it might be a hosta or bulb of some sort. They're up about 6" or so.
This spring will be full of wonderful unveilings for me as I discover what I now own!

MollyD

I bet it is daffodils!

That or tulips. This bout of color weather has convinced what ever it is to stop growing so I still can't tell. Since I don't know what's in my garden I don't dare do any digging or clipping at all.

MollyD

Nothing blooming here, but I don't actually *have* a garden yet; just a yard, a hayfield and lots of woods. There are some kind of bulbs trying to grow in one of the flower beds, but I am bulb-illiterate. My dogs dug them up so I replanted them and they are still green at this time, just emerging from the snow cover of the last two weeks. One hosta is still green, it is the only one though. I really need to do something about the drainage around the foundation, because the beds hold water and the basement doesn't care for that much (nor I!) I already know I have to do some dirt fill near the NE corner of the basement, as the previous owners put in concrete steps and the water coming from the downspout has nowhere to go but back into the basement walls...eek! I'm hoping that I didn't purchase a 1940's money pit. So far, just minor issues that I can see, although the electrical system could use a complete re-working to make me feel happier and safer over the long haul.

I have some bushes that I don't recognize near the house and a baby one in a bed out front, plus I brought my tea olive which has so far survived 0 degree weather. It looks pretty bad right now but I'm hoping it will come back in the spring. My daphne odorata has not bloomed yet, but it took quite the chilling experience in the U-Haul where it spent a freezing night before I could retrieve it. I lost many things on the move, including two plants my DH bought for me Right now everyone is hanging out in the living room by the south facing window, hoping for a spring planting!

You should post some pics, Hineni, so we can help you ID the unknowns. Where did you move from? I came here from Phoenix, AZ - I didn't bother bringing anything but a few houseplants, something that I regret.

I thought I saw something this morning but it was only frost. HA!

I know it doesn't count but my Plumerias in the greenhouse are starting tiny leaves, and my Moro Orange (Blood Orange) is getting flowers for the first time. Smell great!

I had a few flowers blooming Friday...some kind of crocus, but I didnt take the camera with me.

i sowed a few japanese morning glory seeds a week ago and one is up, one isn't.
i can't believe how much its grown since the 17th.

Hineni, don't you love the smell of a tea olive bush?

In the next day or so, I'm going to direct sow some poppy seeds. I think i'll try half of them but save some to Wintersow just in case it doesn't work. I'm sure we'll have several more freezes so I think it will work especially if I cover them with leaves.

I love tea olive too, good luck with yours, Hineni! I bought some at the end of the year at Lowes, they were still marked $23 but when I got up to the counter, they only charged me $3 something, so I ran back and got some more! They aren't really happy indoors in their pots, they look a little crispy, but I've gotten a few flowers off and on all winter and mmmm, the smell!!

Sheryl - Well, I've meandered from Florida, to Georgia, to Virginia, then NE TN, and now finally purchased a home in NW TN. I'll try to get some photos of the little buddies outside. I'm guessing probably daffys, tulips and maybe hyacinths just by looking at the leaves.

Yep, per this photo at the link, some of them are tulips cuz they look like this: http://emiliewood.com/photos/m...

And also like this, so hyacinths are confirmed as well: http://farm1.static.flickr.com...

Dafs are confirmed too, because they look like this: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HrY1...

The spiffy things you find if you spend too much time with search engines...LOL!

Susan - 3.00???? I would have gone hog wild. Mine was 40.00 on sale from 80.00 at a Home Depot that was closing down back in GA. Its in a HUGE pot; so it is outside at the moment. But 3.00 tea olives, I would have swooned. I had a hard time leaving some callas for others when I found them for 2.00 each! One isn't looking too good, it's gone yellow on the leaves. I was planning on cutting most of the flowers off in order to get more blooms; is that the right way to do it? I've always longed for callas, but just couldn't bring myself to pay 10.00 a pot for them. I'm going to give one of them to my best friend from KY who is coming down to help me put up fence this weekend, so I want to save the best one for her.

Nannie - let me know how poppies do here. I want to grow some, but I wasn't sure if they would work here or not.

Does anyone grow pink ladies? I think they are a form of heirloom lily, but I am not sure. They are so cute!!! Pink stuff on top of bare sticks...LOL!

:sigh: I can't wait until I have money...argh! Oh, and dry ground too...haha!

Sunny is this the plant you are referring to? http://www.plants.usda.gov/jav... If so it's one of our native orchids. Most are protected by Federal Law.
I think a few places are licensed to sell some.

MollyD

Sunny, Poppies do well here they say. I ws'd some last year, but several people said direct sow them. someone even told me he sprinkled them on the snow and they came up. just get them out early and somewhere sunny. haha... Sunny.

Molly, no, not the lady slipper, although those are lovely too. It was hard to find pics of what I meant, but here are a few:

http://www.americanmeadows.com...

http://mrkurtzsneighborhood.ty...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...

http://www.charmofthecarolines...

http://www.lamorindaweekly.com...

Aha! It's because I had the name wrong. They are actually called 'Naked Ladies' (surely there has to be a "real" name for them) I found them listed as both lilies and as amaryllis, and at 16.00 for ONE bulb, I guess I'll be admiring them only in other people's yards. Wow, that's silly spendy. They are listed as amaryllis belladonna in some places. And according to this humorous article, they have other names as well: (found at http://www.charmofthecarolines...)

"Yep, Naked Ladies, plain as day, are in my neighbor's front yard. You can imagine my surprise to see them. They literally just popped out of nowhere. And boy are they top-heavy!

Pink trumpets upon sleek, slender stalks are profusely abounding in my entire neighborhood and throughout middle Tennesee. Naked Ladies (Lycoris squamigera) are also known as Surprise Lilies, Mystery Lilies, Spider Lilies and Pink Ladies. These flowers are beautiful, make great bouquets with a long-lasting bloom, and are impossible to get rid of once you plant the bulb, which makes it a great flower for out-of-the-way places you may forget to weed or water.

Like most bulb flowers, thick, spikey leaves emerge in late winter but quickly turn yellow, dry, and blow away. The plants then go dormant until mid-summer, and then Surprise! Naked Ladies in the front yard!"

So there we have the official name, along with the multiple variants. i also found them labeled 'Jersey lilies'. Those ladies get around!!
If they are so hard to get rid of and spread easily, maybe someone around here or DG has some bulbs they will sell me later when I have cash, for less than 16.00 each.

Nannie - just throw them on top of the ground? Wow, can anything be that easy? LOL! Do let me know how they do please.

Thank you - Lycoris. For some reason I always forget their names. Even though I planted a bunch of them last summer...

They're very pretty! What zone are they? I don't remember running into them before .

MollyD

I saw them a lot in the Southwest - especially the red ones. They're supposed to be pretty marginal here (I'm in 6b) but I see them all over the place, so....

Here's where I got mine - wait, maybe not, they don't have the pink, but - http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com... .

Maybe I got them from Brent and Becky's bulbs. Mamajack does have a co-op going for easy to grow, I think.

Sunny, you can check out the Calla Lily cubit

It depends on the flowers, are they white or colored? Cutting the blooms off Callas won't give you more flowers this year, but it will help the bulb grow bigger and give you more flowers next year. (Flowering takes a lot out of bulbs, energy-wise.)

If they are colored, just let them die back, and then either lift them or leave them in the pot, but let them rest for about 6 weeks and then they should start growing again.

If they are white, they should be growing now. Don't overwater and give them a lot of sun. Callas really aren't indoor plants.

Callas are very easy to grow from bulbs, prices range from $1 to $20 for the new and rare, you can plant them out in the yard. Getting them cheap from Lowes works too, the ones here had Captain Reno (dark purple) and Captain Cupido (cream white), which are top- price varieties.

Susan, should we plan on lifting callas each year and storing them? In GA I could leave them in the ground, but it's a zone colder here.

Why didn't my smily show up? Let's try again.