WHAT'S COMING UP - Anemones, Tulips, and Peonies

Very exciting if you're me.

Winter is ending, and it's heading into spring, which means that here and there, the first of spring is showing its cheery face. I am having to give myself reminders about both coveteousness and pride.

My smugness about having crocuses before my neighbour lasted right up until he got the first daffodil. The cheeriest little bunch of narcissus you ever did see is waving at me from across the fence, and don't even get me started on his absolutely gorgeous camellia.

In my garden, things are going a bit more slowly, but I still get excited every day that I see something new, and I'm checking on the progress of various bulbs and seedlings like some kind of expectant mother.

There are lots of things that have buds on them now. Of course the trees and shrubs are showing tiny little leaflets and buds. One of my camellias has had buds on it for some time, but doesn't appear in any kind of a rush:




I'm becoming ever more aware of just how many different types of crocuses I planted, as every few days a new batch shows its heads:



and existing batches fill out and look even prettier:






The wild violets, which I still love, are blooming here and there.




I know I've mentioned it before, but there are some flowers that it just seems like you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be cheered or heartened by, and violets, crocuses, and daisies all seem to fit into this group.

Although I haven't a firm opinion on this yet, I suspect that snowdrops, too, may fit into this category. There are still several blooming cheerily away in the garden:



And a couple of primroses which must have self-seeded themselves from somewhere have also made their presence known.



Lots of things are now threatening to flower any day now. There are a couple of anemones,



more than one tree peony,



and, of course, some daffodils and paperwhites:







There's been a flower bud on one of the clematis vines for a couple of weeks, now, and I've been checking it for progress semi-religiously:



and this morning was terribly excited to see that a few of the tulips are showing actual flower buds now:



There are lots of things that I planted and wasn't sure were going to make it through the winter, and it's exciting to see them showing up. Last spring I planted a bunch of bluebells "in the green," and for some reason (probably because I'd never done this before and it seemed a bit 'trendy') didn't trust them to make it, but there they are with their little bluebell leaves. I just read something about problems with bluebells having lots of leaves but no flowers, and now I'm paranoid, of course. But at least they lived, and I can worry about flowers later:




One of my (absolutely gorgeous) peonies was failing from a combination of being under a hydrangea and also very old and in need of dividing, so I divided it up in the autumn and planted the various sections near the apple trees. Again, every time I do something like that I am convinced that I have killed the perfectly lovely peony, but now I see lots of little shootlets everywhere. I've heard that after they've been moved they don't flower for a few years, so I'm not getting my hopes up. Once again I am happy just with the fact that they made it:





I also planted some hyacinth bulbs in the ground. There are conflicting expert opinions on whether or not they will survive if you do this, so I am happy to see several leaves coming up:




I love the way they smell, and smell is a really important part of a garden for me.

Little story about the smell of hyacinths: A while back, I had some in the kitchen, planted in bowls. The boyfriend went into the kitchen and commented on something smelling like roses. I thought he was being facetious, and that there must be something smelly in the rubbish bin or something. It turned out that he was referring to the hyacinths. I didn't catch on, because in my mind hyacinths smell nothing like roses. I was tempted to say that this is a man/woman thing, but in reality I think it's more of a sad garden geek thing.

I've put a few things in pots in the greenhouse--both bulbs and seeds. The giant sunflowers came up almost overnight:



And this morning I noticed the first lily peeking up above the soil:



It's so difficult to wait! There are all of these seeds I want to plant. I actually pilfered some plug plants from work, so I have a bunch of herbs and some peppers out there. I've never grown from plugs before, so this will be an experiment.

In a way, though, I really prefer the idea of planting from seed. There's something about doing it all yourself, from the very beginning. Watching the seeds, waiting expectantly, seeing the first little green shoots, and then later having this fantastic crop, all from that tiny little grain of sand (or pebble, or, I suppose in the case of things like cycads and coconut palms, massive boulder).

Alas, the necessity of having a full-time job!