Buds and offsets-1

The watering had a fantastic effect, a lot of beautiful buds appeared. And hopefully more and more will come from now on, so I start a topic with this subject. It's a real joy to photograph them.
Here are a few:

Crocuses

I have shown the flowers of this Colchicum in autumn. Now the leaves are coming:

Colchicum arenarium

Eranthis hyemalis

The same, two days later:

Eranthis with Cyclamen coum

The same, two days later:

Hepatica nobilis

The same, from the back:

Hepatica nobilis

and from close (yes, it fascinates me):

Hepatica nobilis from close

Saxifraga x elisabethae '(had no label)'

and from close:

Daphne sericea

And finally a not hardy Cyclamen:

Cyclamen pseudibericum

The First Harbinger in Our "Garden"

I have a lot to tell but at this time of year let's begin with the most important – at least for me: the first Eranthis hyemalis flower opened yesterday on our balcony. I realized the little yellow spot only after some lingering around that pot!

So I decided to cut down the dried leaves of the Campanula raddeana. They were left for winter to protect the sleeping buds of Hepatica nobilis (and also of different bulbs resting in that pot):

Buds of Hepatica nobilis

Here is after the haircut (picture taken yesterday afternoon with flash):

The long ribbons are the leaves of autumn flowering Sternbergia lutea.

Today was sunny and warm (14°C), so the Eranthis flower opened. It is obvious from the following picture how much it resembles to the hellebore flower.

Both have the petals transformed to nectaries, and the sepals taking the role of the petals. Both have many anthers, of the same shape. But the hellebores have 5 sepals which remain on the flower after flowering, the Winter Aconite (Eranthis) has more sepals which fall down after pollination. And the Eranthis has those pretty bracts looking like collars around the flower.

Both belong to the Helleboraceae family. As I know they were the same genus (Helleborus) some time ago. Winter Aconite is also called Winter Hellebore.

I observed in the sunshine that the Caryopteris has already little new leaves:

Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Heavenly Blue'

I got it last autumn and I wondered if it would be hardy in a pot. It seems like it was. I have to cut it down soon, and also to put it in a larger pot.

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Seed sowing

Yesterday I sowed the seeds got from the SRGC. I got the packet in middle January but I simply did not feel like to sow them (it happens sometimes to me!). So I put them in moist vermiculite in zip lock bags, than in paper bags and put outside on the frosty balcony.

I like vermiculite for seed storing and layering. I've heard that it was good also for the ephemeral seeds to preserve germinating capacity.
I used to pour it dry in the bag, then put the seeds, mix it, and then spray into the bag 3 times with water, the mix to be just moist. Then lock the bag and put it in the fridge or outside.
When sowing, I pour all the contents of the bag on the moist composts' surface, than cover it with some grit.
Here is yesterdays' sowing:

They go to the garden to be subjected to the whimsy weather. (Don't forget: these are alpine plants' seeds, not tropicals or vegetables!)

There are also some bulbous plants' seeds, like Crocus banaticus, Scilla greilhuberi, Merendera montana, Fritillaria sp. and Allium sp. collected in Asia, which are in water now to soak. They will be sown tomorrow.

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Bulb blue

I have to turn again to the recently shown forced bulbs. There was a narcissus bulb which has very few roots. Well, it made only one flower and the leaves remained small. Now the tips of the leaves are yellow/brown:

I learned from Ian Young that this meant the bulb was beginning to rot.
I pulled it out easily from the compost because those few roots are almost all gone:

Cutting the bulb in two, can be seen the spots where the rot begun:

It's fantastic that you can see this on the leaves!

The forecast says that winter comes back by the end of February, but today I gave some water to our miniature alpine gardens. If the alpines feel that winter is over, they begin to assimilate and need water for that. If the weather is not favourable, they just stop growing but don't die, because the sap is already moving in their body, and the new season's life is irreversible.

Welcome, new season's life!

Burying the Winter?

The Hungarian name of Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is "Winter bury(er?)".

On Saturday at noon I had the foolish idea to go and see the Eranthis plants growing on the Hárs Hill, near Budapest. And we were really astonished seeing that the flowers were about to open already. It was a warm and more or less sunny day. Last year we saw them on the same place in March, I wrote about it then. 

There were many other tourists coming along enjoying the spring-like day, but nobody understood what about these two fools on all fours, photographing those yellow flowers.

And the beautiful pictures of my husband can be seen HERE.

The First Real Spring Day

We have every year the First Real Spring Day (though it may be followed by winter days again).
I think that from now on we will have every day some news in the "garden".

The Androsace is still sleeping wrapped up in hairy leaves. Besides can be seen the ugly brown foliage of a Potentilla nitida. It will never be as on its habitat in the Dolomites but I hope for green leaves soon. This plant was bought in a nursery and until now it has give us three flowers only once.

Androsace sarmentosa, Potentilla nitida

This last year's Aquilegia seedling (seeds came from the SRGC as Aquilegia scopulorum but I think it is not), gets dressed for the Spring Feast.

Aquilegia sp.

Draba imbricata

This is also a seedling from last year, I think:

Draba lasiocarpa

The Eranthis is already fading, the Hepaticas just in bloom:

Hepatica nobilis, Eranthis hyemalis

Its pollen is already ripe:

Also the first flower of the Saxifraga x elisabethae cv. has opened, 10 days later than last year:

Saxifraga x elisabethae cv.

Sedum sieboldii shoots with Tulipa dasystemon in the background:

The color of the houseleeks is most beautiful now, at the end of winter. In summer they become dull green.

Sedum calcareum 'Griggs's Surprise' (maybe)

Spring Developments

Spring is working now very very slow, but at least is working. Last days we had much sunshine with extremely cold winds. And tonight snowed again before the last snow could have gone.

Some buds from the balcony:

Androsace carnea brigantiaca

Primula marginata – will flower the first time for us

Hepatica nobilis

And finally some pictures from the Hárs mountain near Budapest. We went back on Sunday and found the Eranthis flowers with a snow blanket:

Hail

The first day of March. Before noon it was nice and sunny, with the smell of spring in the air. In the afternoon we had a hail here, on Buda hills. Suddenly I heard a clattering on the window and the grass in the garden was covered with white peas. The balcony was not affected, yet I covered the budding Saxifraga with a plastic box. I wouldn't like its only 3 buds to be broken down.

On Sunday we went Snowdrop-hunting to the Hárs hill. On the northern slopes there are many, but only buds at the moment. Instead we found fine clumps of Eranthis hyemalis in full bloom. There are only on a single place, but they make large yellow carpets. Shame on me! I did not know before that there were Eranthis on Hárs hill, though we walk many times around there.