Early Spring Flowers

 

Crocus thommasinianus

Crocus tommasinianus in two colors.

The recent warm weather is gradually ushering spring in, and more crocuses are blooming in my front yard. A couple of dry weeks after some good rains, the clayey earth in my garden has now attained the perfect consistency for being worked, so I'm hard at labor on my bed expansions and soil improvements. I can't help noticing new shoots coming up everywhere!

 

Feathered mauve crocuses

Witch hazel 'Diane'

My witch hazel 'Diane,' planted last year, has put out its first blooms and they are lovely--it certainly lived up to my expectations! It should be even better in a few years as it develops into a small tree. When it reaches above deer browsing height I'll remove the protective netting which obscures it now.

'February Gold' daffodils

The 'February Gold' daffodils that I separated and re-planted in the front yard last fall are starting to bloom. The display is a bit skimpy now, but it will become fuller in the coming years as the bulbs grow and fill in the space.

Bearss lime

Indoors, my Bearss lime tree has been very prolific--this is one of six limes harvested since I brought it inside last fall, with one more lime left and lots of new blossoms setting fruit. My hand pollination efforts on the Australian red lime seem to have been successful, and a few limes are starting to develop. They are only about 3/4" long right now, but hopefully, they'll reach edible size by summer, when I take it outdoors.

Australian red lime

A new crop of blossoms should develop then. I'm curious to see whether any bees will pollinate the blossoms--I don't recall any fruit setting last year when it bloomed outside, but then again it was a very hot and dry summer and it was the first set of blooms. It's possible a specialized pollinator simply doesn't exist in the USA, because it's a native of Australia, though small bees should be able to pollinate the flowers.