Friday, May 30, 2008

We've Got a New Baby!


The daffodil season has been one of the best yet here at Our Little Acre, and amazingly enough, it's still going on. We even have one variety that is just emerging from the ground! (Narcissus 'Faith') I think I planted them too deeply and they've struggled to make their way to the sunshine, so I'll be surprised if they actually bloom. We'll see.



Most of our daffodils have come and gone, but a little charmer is at the height of its glory. 'New Baby' is a teeny weeny thing - so small that I nearly missed its first blooms. Each tiny flower is no more than an inch across. Its foliage is appropriately thin-bladed, making this a delicate addition to the spring palette. I just love it!




To give you a better perspective on just how tiny this daffodil is, here's a picture of them with their bedfellows:

Can you see them? They're at the right front of the bed, between the Tiarella and the Pulmonaria. Look very closely and you can see a couple of very tiny blooms. This is the first year I've had them and I expect them to bloom better next year. I think I'll need to move them though, because with as late as they bloom, too many leaves are on the trees by now for them to get as much sun as they like.

One little 'Thalia' is hanging on, but the rest have been gone for a week or so. It's the first spring for those, too, and I really like them. They're truly a white white.







One of my very favorites is 'Avalon'. It's sturdy-stemmed and has a large-sized flower. I like the white highlighting around its white cup. They didn't bloom as heavily this year as they did last, though.










I've only got a few 'Lemon Beauty' daffodils, but they're a nice accent to the other yellow petaled ones.

They have a split cup, though not as frilly as that other one I have that I keep threatening to dig up and feed to the squirrels. I don't think even the squirrels will want them though. They're so ugly, they're scary.


You can't really tell how ugly they are from this photo, though...

'Replete' Glamour Shot


'Sagitta' made its first appearance here this spring and I'm glad I bought two bags of them last fall. The cup is almost apricot and the flowers are quite large. They last a long time, too.


'Rick' borders on having a pink cup...


...but 'Pink Charm' truly is pink.







I thought 'Jetfire' would have a more orange cup than it did and that it would have a larger flower. It's on the smaller side. Regardless, I really like this one. I'll just look for another yellow with a solid orange cup to plant this fall.










'Delibes'
is a real stunner.











'Pipit'
is a reliable bloomer and is a somewhat smaller version of 'Avalon'. Many times it has multiple blooms on one stem.











There were various other unnamed daffodils that graced us with their presence...
















This all-yellow is the largest daffodil we have.





Little 'Tete-a-Tete' never fails to bring cheer to the gardens. Just before Jenna's bridal shower in April, I bought more at Walmart and dotted them throughout the flower beds for some more color, since not a whole lot of anything else was blooming when these were.





'Rip van Winkle' only managed to produce one measly bloom this year, and 'Golden Bells' didn't bloom at all. I use bulb food, so I'm not sure what happened with these. Maybe they'll do better next year.







And of course, we've got the classic Poet's Daffodil spotted here and there around the yard. Some of them are thirty years old, because we dug them from a ditch down the road shortly after we moved here. But in all that time, did you know that I didn't realize they were highly fragrant? I accidentally caught a whiff this spring while weeding near them and I was so surprised by how good they smelled.


It's hard to believe we're so far into the growing season that the daffodils are nearly finished! It's been a lovely spring and it's gone far more quickly than winter did. Why is that always the case?

18 comments:

Frances, said...

Hi Kylee, you have some stunning daffodil varieties. I keep meaning to get the poeticus, it grew at my childhood home with no care at all, my parent's were not gardeners. It must have been planted by previous owners. The little new baby is so precious, I love the tiny ones. Rip Van Winkle always gets on the order list, then taken off when the price total shows us that we need to rethink. It is like reliving spring here to see you daffs, and such great photos of them too. Thanks.
Frances

Anonymous said...

I really love the Thalia and Poet's Daffodil. But I'm astonished that you have daffs growing right now! Ours have been gone for so long.

Kylee Baumle said...

Frances ~ Yes, the Poet's Daffodil is VERY common here. You see it growing everywhere. Cemeteries, ditches, abandoned houses, in the woods, you name it.

I have planted 'Toto' a couple of times, and neither time did they come up. Must not seem like Kansas here. LOL

Pam ~ Oh, there aren't many still in bloom. Just one 'Thalia' and 'New Baby' and 'Faith' is yet to come...maybe. But last week we had several still hanging in there and looking fairly decent. But the weather had been cooler than normal, too.

Cheryl said...

Hi....Its seems strange seeing daffs after ours finished so long ago.
I have a good selection here but I have never seen one as pretty as New Baby.....I really like that and shall be on the look out in the Autumn.

Unknown said...

Wonderful daffodils! I don't have any yet, but I hear the wildlife tends to leave them alone??

I love those multi colored blooms. Gorgeous!

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

I don't know which one I like the most... they're all so gorgeous! I miss daffodils already so your post was a wonderful treat for me. Your Thalia are so lovely. But so are the Rick and Pink Charm. See? I can't make up my mind. ;)

Hugs,
Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

Unknown said...

Oh NO... now I feel like I ought to plant 'Rick' in my garden, because that's my Dad's name! (What an unusual name for a daffodil, though, no?)

Such pretty daffs all around, but I'm particularly taken with 'Thalia' after seeing her here and over at Ellis Hollow. Is she fragrant at all? She looks like she should be, with that crisp whiteness and elegant beauty... :)

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your New Baby is darling as are the rest of your collection of daffodils.

I have hated to see this spring come to an end. It has been one of our most enjoyable due to the cool wet weather. Now we are into the hot and humid days of summer even if we aren't officially calling this time summer.

Unknown said...

Nice to see you're still well in the swing with the daffs too, Kylee. My poeticus narcissus haven't even opened yet, but they're always the latest. The miniatures we have here are just nice now, though after last night's drownpour they're probably pretty tattered.

and I LOVE that split-coronaed daff, Kylee. It's funky and fun, and you know my sense of humour....

Rose said...

I can't believe you still have daffodils blooming! You have so many lovely varieties I couldn't pick a favorite. More daffodils and more varieties are definitely on my fall planting list.

Ewa said...

All of them are beautiful! Maybe if I should decide, I would pick up a white one. Thalia is so surprising!
Greetings,
Ewa

Karen said...

Your daff's are beautiful. Mine have been done blooming for weeks now. I love all the different varieties.

Dave said...

Wow they look great! I especially like the close-up photo of the 'Delibes'.

Connie said...

Lovely line-up of daffodils! I had circled Avalon in the bulb catalog for next year. So many bulbs, so little time, sigh. :-)

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Dafs are one of my favourite flowers so it is nice to see them in flower on your blog at this time of year. Mine are long gone, it's almost Summer here with summer flowers too.

Such a lovely collection of daffs you've got Kylee, Avalon and Pipit are very pretty and so is Lemon Beauty. BTW my Rip van Winkle also had one measly flower this year.

chey said...

Wow Kylee, you have quite a daffodil collection!I really enjoyed seeing all of the different varieties. Your photos are stunning!

Anonymous said...

I just came in from the sizzling heat and moving my sprinkler---here you are posting pics of spring bloomers. I can see our weather is so different. I think we are in for another drought hot summer. It's good to see such pretty pics. I feel like it's July already.

Anonymous said...

What stunning photos of daffodils, and so many varieties. Great camera and beautiful flowers.

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