Viewing post #226965 by Betja

Yea!!! Spring has arrived in good ole' Bakersfield! This is Barry Blyth's SDB MAKING EYES, and it's one of a very few SDB's that blooms for me each year. It seems like this is a week or two earlier than other years. And as I was just outside taking this picture I noticed that there are a few other SDB's that have nice fat little buds too, including a couple of my little seedlings. I got five seedlings from a single bee pod on MAKING EYES about three years ago, and last year I had two little cuties bloom -- and it looks like maybe they might bloom yearly for me At least they will have bloomed for two years in a row for me now. And I'm pretty sure the pollen came from CACHE OF GOLD, just from the looks of the two seedlings I've seen so far, and CACHE OF GOLD also blooms for me each year -- plus I think they were the only two SDB's that bloomed in that bed that year. This is a big deal for me because very few SDB's will bloom in Bakersfield because it doesn't get cold enough in the winter. But Sutton's has hybridized some that seem to bloom here each year now.

I've also noticed bud thickening on CACHE OF GOLD and PINKSTER so far, but they're probably a week or so away.