On the first spring page I’ve made a general
description. On this page I want to describe and photograph a number of Spring floweringplants
more extensive.
Snowdrop. (Galanthus nivalis)
Bulbous plant. Bloom time: End winter, beginning spring. The
snowdrop is native to southeast Europe. They love fertile soiland
you can find them in deciduous
forests.
Did you know, in the wild there is in Holland a Spring Snowflake (Leucojum vernum) and Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum? The Summer Snowflake (bloom time: April, May) grows in swampy grassland and reed beds. The
Spring Snowflake has been protected in the Netherlands, so it is
rare.
Giant
Snowflake, Summer Snowflake (Leucojum Gravetye Giant) Despite
its common name, summer snowflake blooms in March, May.
In 2007 I bought some bulbs. The Giant Snowflake is larger and more robust than a
snowdrop. This snowflake bears up to eight white, green tipped bells.
Height: 30 - 50 cm. Rich, moist but well-drained soil. Native to South
West Asia.
Trumpet daffodil
(Narcissus pseudonarcissus major)
A bulbous plant. The Wild Daffodil is
found in the east and south of
the Netherlands in wet grass lands. What you see now, are plantsrun
wild, native to Southwest Europe. The daffodil blooms a little later, than
the snowdrop. During flowering they love, fertile
wet soil.
After flowering, when the leaves are withered, the soil has to be rather
dry. The daffodil on the picture is a small species. Narcissus cyclamineus. Dutch
name: Tête à tête.
The last two are larger species.
Crocus
The plants grow from corms. Corms are stems that are internally structured
with solid tissues. (Bulbs are made up of layered fleshy scales.) Native
to
central and southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia
and western China. There are many species andcultivars.
Crocus is placed botanically in the iris family
(Iridaceae). Some crocus species bloom inautumn
(autumn crocus)
Most crocus species prefer a sunny position and well-drained soil. They reseed themselves freely. The crocus seed pods come above groundin
June. The seedlings grow very slowly, however and will not bloom for
several years.
Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)
A tuberous plant. This
photograph is from February 2006 They bloomearlier than the snowdrops. The bloom time is short. I
was too late this yearwith
the camera. They don’t like too dry soil. They reseed themselves. In
South-France and Italy they are found in wild. Winter aconites belong to the "buttercup family" or "crowfoot family" (Ranunculaceae).
Pilewort
(Ficaria verna) I have also a picture of a family member. It’s a wild
plant, which appears in March. Because of the
many dark green horseshoe-shaped leaves
it is for other plants difficult to grow. In June it has disappeared. It
spreads itself by self-seeding and by bulbils.
Hellebore, (Helleborus)
Buttercup family or crowfoot family (Ranunculaceae).
The powder of the roots cause sneezing. The plant is poisonous.
Flowers : January - April. The plants are evergreen perennials and
have shiny, dark green leathery leaves. Heigth: 20 - 30 cm. Partial shade.
Rich, well-drained soil. Replanting is difficult. Christmas Rose: Helleborus Niger has white flowers (Later light
pink or greenish) and a black rootstock. Native to mountainous
regions, particularly in the Alps and the Apennines. Despite being
called the Christmas rose, it flowers later (January, Febrary) in
the Dutch gardens. Lenten Rose: Helleborus orientalis. There are many hybrids .
Flowers from pink to black. Lenten roses are the easiest Hellebores to
grow. Narive: From Bulgaria to Turkey.
Photo March 2010. There are much more plants now.
Cyclamen coum
A tuberous plant. It already starts blooming in January. This continues
up to April. It has instead of autumn flowering cyclamen round dark green
rounded leaves. They love humus-rich calcareous / lime soil.
Viola
odorato (Sweet
violet)
In March they appear in the
garden. It has a rootstock. From
the rosette it has runners. It is also be found in the wild. They don’t
bloom for a long time. The booklet remains still above the ground.
The
flowers are small. You have to look from a small distance to see how
beautiful they are. Then you smell a delicious fragrance.
For the Greeks
it was because of the fragrance the flower of Aphrodite, the goddess of
love. The oil from the flowers is still used for fragrance articles.
Wild arum, Lords and Ladies, Jack in the Pulpit
(Arum maculatum) Family Araceae.
This arum grows on various places in the garden. I've the plants for years,
but I don't know, how they came into the garden.
Wild arum isn't native. It is native to southern Europe. In Britain
and in the Netherlands you can find this Arum in wild now.
It likes moist, rich soil.
The plant is toxic.
Height 20 to 40 cm.
Left photo: May 21. Bloom time: April, May. In July it has red fruits
I hesitated between Wild arum (Arum maculatum) and Italian arum (Arum
italicum). But the spadix of the Wild arum (Arum maculatum) is purple-brown.
Wild garlic(Allium ursinum).
Amaryllis family (Alliaceae).
Wild garlic is native to the Netherlands. In some areas it is rare. In the dunes and
my village "Bergen", it is a very common plant. I have some plants in the garden. They
prefer moist soil and shaded places. It is a perennial plant.
The leaves are oval and resemble the leaves of the lily of the valleys. The white flowers are forming a spherical shape..
The crushed leaves smell like onions and garlic and in some countries
they are used in food. Then you better not pick the poisonous leaves of the lily of the valleys.
The bulbs and flowers are also tasty.
Bloom time: April - June
Height 20-40 cm. Europe, Asia Minor.
Photos 8-5-2013 and 10-5-2013.
Euphorbia
amygdaloides "robbiae" Family Euphorbia.
This Euphorbia is in the wild in northwest Asia Minor. It is a ground cover by its root suckers.
It is evergreen.
Calcareous dry sandy soil. Sun, partial shade.
Bloom time: April, May Photo: April 11, 2010
Height 30 - 40 cm.
Lesser periwinkle, Dwarf periwinkle, Small periwinkle, Common periwinkle,
Creeping myrtle (Vinca Minor). Dogbane family (Apocynaceae).
The Lesser Periwinkle is native to the Mediterranean. Now you can find
it in the wild in the Netherlands.
Sun, partial shade or shade. In the sun it is blooming better. It is a excellent
evergreen groundcover with leathery, waxy leaves, but keep an eye on it, because
it is invasive! You can even cut periwinkle with the hedge trimmer.
The plant stays low to the ground and makes long shoots. I put it on this page, because it blooms in the
spring. (usually blue-violet flowers, but there are cultivars with other
colours)
Ordinary, slightly moist soil. The periwinkle is poisonous.
A family member is less the hardy, larger Greater periwinkle (Vinca major).
Bloom time: March - June. Photo: April 5, 2013.
Height about 20 cm.
Asarabacca, European Wild Ginger, Hazelwort, and Wild Spikenard
(Asarum europaeum). Birthwort family (Aristolochiaceae).
Like periwinkle asarabacca is a good evergreen groundcover with leathery leaves. The beautiful glossy leaves are kidney shaped. In our garden
it isn't invasive. If you don't pay attention, you will never see the flowers. The purple bell-shaped flowers can be found close to the ground
under the leaves. In the picture they are not visible. That's why I posted a picture where
you can see them better. Not native. Mansoor originates in Central and Southern Europe.
Bloom time: April - June. Shade, partial shade, slightly moist soil.
Heigth about 15 cm.
Flowers. Photos: April 27, 2013.
Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis)
Native to Iraq and Syria.
They have been already introduced in the 16th century in Europe. What we
now see are cultivars. Flowers in the garden are every year a little
smaller. But I find them more natural. They can reseed themselves. Drained,
fertile soil.
Family Liliaceae Some other species you can find on the page
"spring"
Urumiensis, Tarda Turkestanica Little
Princess Little Beauty
Tulips.(Tulipa) Family Liliaceae
The Netherlands is famous
for its cultivated tulips. As the photograph left. They are imported from
Turkey in the 16th century. Well
drained,
fertile soil.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip
But I prefer the botanical tulips. These wild tulips are very easy to naturalize. Height 15 - 25 cm. Bloom time: lV - V.
Urumiensis: Iran. Tarda: Central Asia. Turkestanica: Turkey. Little
Princess and Little Beauty are cultivated species, but are also easy to
naturalise.
Grape
Hyacinth(Muscari)
(fam. Liliaceae) around the Mediterranean they grow in the wild. At me they do
not multiply themselves very rapidly.
Glory of the Snow(Chionodoxa
luciliae) (fam. Liliaceae) domestic in Turkey. In Greek Chion means snow
and doxa celebrity. Ants are able to spread the seeds. Shade - sun.
Closely related to the Scilla. I’ve bought some years ago some plants. Nowthey
spread themselves everywhere.
Glory of the SnowChionodoxa
forbesii
"pink Giant") fam. hyacinthaceae. A much bigger plant, then the
snow celebrity. The leaves are also bigger. But if you look to the flowers,
you can see they are family. I have bought them last year.
Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica) (fam. Liliaceae) domestic
South Russia, Syria. A little later than the snowdrop. An easy plant. When
I came to live here 28 years ago, they were already there in large numbers.
White Squill
(Scilla mischtschenkoana) (fam. Liliaceae) domestic in the Caucasus and
South-Russia It isno
cultivar. They spread themselves less rapidly, than the Siberian squill.
Spring Starflower, Springstar
(Ipheion uniflorum) (fam. Liliaceae) Blooming time: April-June. Sunny,
bulbous plant. Native to Mexico, Chile, Peru. It forms bulbils. Flowers smell of soap (with
a honey fragrance). The grass-like foliage has a smell of onions.
Spanish Bluebell
(Hyacinthus campanulata but also hispanica) these flowers are blue, but
there are also rose and white flowers. It flowers by the end of April,
beginning May as the latest of this group. It has a lot offoliage, but that disappears rapidly after flowering.It looks like the Common
Bluebell
Windflower
(Anemone blanda Atrocaerulea) Flowerbulb (tuber) for naturalization.
The flowers are blue.
Wood
anemone (Anemone
nemorosa) A native plant. The plants
grow from underground stems called rhizomes. The seeds are also spread by ants. The ants like
theelaiosoom on the seeds
Early thriving shrubs in my garden.
Forsythia
or Golden Bell
(Forsythia) Tall: 2m. They
will grow well in most soils. The soil should be well drained.
In March, April you can't overlook it. It has spectacular bright yellow star-like flowersform on
prior year's growth, not on new growth. So, it's important to prune them
immediately after the flowers have bloomed. It is easy to take cuttings.
Skimmia japonika
Bloom time: March April. Shade, half shade. Height: 1.5 m. A moist,fertile soil.
There are male and female plants.
Broom (Cytisus praecox "allgold") Bloom
time: April May. Acidic sandy soil. Height1.75 m. This is a cultivar. For
many years I have had two shrubs. When they became old, I have taken them
away. This year I’ve bought two new ones.
You can prune after flowering.
Pieris (Pieris japonica variegata) Of course it has
variagata foliage. (not in front of the photo). Bloom time March, April.
Maximum height 2m. Flowers look like flowers of Erica (family). Moist,
acid soil. So I
have used mycompost, for the
soil was to sandy.
Cuttings: In August 10 cm long cuttings in sandy soil at a sheltered
shady spot. Next autumn they can on the place of destination.
Oregon-grape(Mahonia aquifolium) Bloom time: April. Tall 1.5
m. The flowers are followed by small purplish-black fruits. Oregon-grape is resistant to summer drought, tolerates poor soils.
Under the ground there are many runners. Sometimes it can be irritating. The
leaves of Oregon-grape are holly-like.
It is, however, useful for christmas
decoration, the shrub has evergreen foliage. Oregon-grape
is native to North America and Asia
Redflower
currant (Ribes sanguineum) Bloom time: March April. After a mild
winter the flowers are very early. An easy shrub, which you can prune. The shrub can reach 6 feet in height.They
will grow well in most soils.
This year the shrubs flowered less well. The yellow context on the
photograph is of a forsythia.
Gold-Dust
Plant(Aucuba japonica) Bloom time: April. They
will grow well in most soils.
Sun Exposure:Light shade to shade. Evergreen shrub.
Height: 3 m. The purple flowers are very small. Red berrys. Gold-dust plants have
male and female flowers on different plants. The specieon the photo has a
dark green foliage. The most gold-dust plants have variegated
leathery leaves.
It can be pruned the whole year. Cuttings
from terminal shoots can be taken in spring or summer.
Laurustinus(Viburnum tinus) Bloom time: February - April. Height: 3m. Evergreen
shrub. After the
flowering in spring you can prune the laurustinus. Position:Full sun to partial shade Native to theMediterranean region.Viburnum Leaf Beetle can
cause much damage. Look at beetles.
Weigela
florida Bloom time May June. The shrub can reach 2 m in height.
About 30 years ago it looks old. I am careful with prune else I fear for
it does not survive. Propagation:
take in October cuttings (30 cm) A year later they have roots.
Holly (Hex aquifolium) Bloom time: May. The flowers
are small. Hollys have like Gold-dust plants male
and female flowers on different plants. On
the photograph: Left: The shoot is from a female shrub. To the right:From a male shrub. Holly
berries are mildly toxic.
In my garden there are several wild holly species. It spreads by self-seeding. In the beginning it
is a shrub. Afterwards it gets the form of a tree. The
shrub can reach 10 m in height. Fortunately it grows slowly. You can prune it the
whole year.
The holly is an evergreen shrub. There are a lot of cultivars. The
Holly will grow in almost any soil, provided it is not too wet. This year however they have many cushion scales (pulvani
floccifera).Adult
Pulvinaria produces in autumna
white egg-sac which is clearly visible on the leaves.
The holly does not suffer. They are also in the bushesin the neighbourhood. The wood is heavy,
hard and white. It is used for wood-carving and inlay work.
Nederlands /
Dutch
