Bulb-blog

Baby bulb

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February 2010

Slowly but surely, shoots are coming...

Posted by Danielle Cowell on 20 February 2010

(Click to enlarge)

20/02/10 All my crocus are very short. They popped up very quickly and opened on a sunny afternoon. Since, we have had more cold weather and snow and they have had to close again.

(Click to enlarge)

10/02/10 When the sun is out the petals fully open out - this is the view from above.

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20/02/10 First Crocus. See how transparent the stem is.

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Crocus - 13/02/10

» View full post to see all images

In early December we looked forward to an early spring but then the cold weather slowed everything down. Now, with temperatures slowly rising, school scientists are reporting new signs of spring across Wales! My shoots have also started to come through!

In Pentrepoeth Junior School, Swansea. Pupils were very excited to find crocus, daffodil and mystery bulbs peeping through the soil. They were surprised how some of their shoots varied in size and love recording the temperature and rainfall.

On the really Welsh farm, in Bridgend. Farmers have finally started picking daffodils and sending them out across South Wales. They report: 'Still not huge volumes really, we are extremely disappointed at how slow the daffodils are growing this year. We are about 5 weeks behind for the earliest varieties and are keeping our fingers crossed that we will have plenty of daffodils for St.Davids Day'.

Professor Plant's bulb blog:

20/02/10 My crocus opened today! First the flower bud appeared, then when the sun came out at lunch time - the flower popped open. The colours were amazing, bright purple petals and bright orange anthers & stigma. It's so nice to finally have some colour in the garden. Later in the afternoon, when the sunshine disappeared the flower closed again. I'll upload my pictures tomorrow. Does your crocus do this? Why not try out some of my investigation ideas. See link below.

15/02/10 Both my daffodil and crocus shoots have started to come through. They are no taller than 2cms which is quiet small for this time of year. In 2008, when the winter was mild my crocus flowers had already opened and the daffodils were 11cms tall!

Which shoot is which? The daffodil shoots have smooth curved, light green tips. They are much broader than the crocus tips. The crocus shoots have narrow pointed shoots that normally appear in clusters of five. They have dark green edges - making them look slightly stripey.