Fourth annual crocus post

Hey, it's crocus time! They opened the first day of spring, beating the snowdrops by mere moments. I haven't had much time to spend with them, because we are madly patching/painting/scrubbing in order to put our house on the market. But! The color of these crocuses perfectly matches the color I am painting the composting toilet I built! I will show you the toilet, which is portable and will be traveling to Vermont with us, when it's all done. I am perhaps unbecomingly proud of it.

For past crocus arrivals, please see:
2011
2012
2013

Happy spring!

Third annual crocus post

I'm bad at remembering dates, or even years, of when important things happened. That's why I'm so pleased with myself for having posted the blooming of these little harbingers of spring three years in a row, because they are important to me, and I like knowing that they are perfectly in tune with their own particular climatic requirements. I don't know if day length has anything to do with it, but they do like warmth and sunshine, and perhaps a song sparrow to serenade their emergence...

Here they are blooming March 22, 2011 and February 22, 2012.

Well ahead of schedule...

First crocus. Where has my winter gone? I am not through with my indoor to-do list yet. Oh dear.

Crocus tommasinianus

Not all gardeners have room for drifts. Or copses or swales or wealds. Some of us simply haven't got the space.

...or do we?

If you doubt your ability to cultivate a drift, I present to you: Crocus tommasinianus.

This sweet little late winter bloomer sows itself in patches - with grace, abandon, and good composition. All in the space of a dollhouse-sized acre.

Unconvinced, you say? Your postage-stamp sized parcel could never accommodate any sort of drift, let alone drifts (plural!)?

Well then, I now present to you: documentation of my barnyard, against a backdrop of endless swaths of cottony, sky-blue Crocus tommasinianus.