My daffodils look closest, although 5 inches of snow fell on them Monday and they haven't opened up yet.

I planted crocus last fall, so they took some time coming up this spring. I suppose the blooms could still beat out the daffodils, but I don't see the flower stalk yet.

The previous owners of this place planted tulip bulbs in the back raised beds with the raspberry canes, and those are coming up again. Looks like they've multiplied since last year. Since they can't be seen unless you're back there planting lettuce, I guess I'm supposed to cut those flowers and bring them indoors. I'll try to get around to that this year.

And my crabapple trees have buds swelling up. My garden will be glorious for two or three weeks when those bloom.

-Francesca

I have a few little yellow crocus peeking up. Some of the hitchhiker voilas in the coldframe are sprouting and blooming in with the potted roses. Very cheerful!

The iris and hyacinth greens are just sprouting up, and some of the tulip greens are coming out. A few daylilly greens are peeking out. The hens and chicks are greening up in their rocky positions.

Of course, the foxtail is greening up. It's probably already time to spray for the foxtail. Grrrrrr.

Cheers,
Michelle

All my bulbs are new - planted last fall. The crocuses have started blooming, tiny little yellow and purple flowers. I have species tulips that have come up. Iris and daylilies all showing green sprouts now. I dug up, thinned and moved around a lot of irises, so hopeful that I'll get some blooms this year. And I bought one hyacinth bulb last year, and it has a nice, fat flower stalk/bud on it!

Alice

Ahem... those of us with nothing blooming would love to see some photos of your beauties!

: ) Bonnie

Oooh thanks for reminding me Bonnie, I need to take photos of my snowdrops that started blooming last week. They aren't quite as pretty as crocus but they are cute.

:-) Sorry Bonnie! I'll have to try to get a picture tomorrow while they're open...I just noticed at lunch that they were open, but they're closed again when I get home. I'll see if I can't get a picture at lunch tomorrow - they really are quite pretty and spring-y!

I am planning to plant more for next year. They are so sweet and dainty. I cant wait until my crocus appear for a show of color.

Are you sure you want pictures, Bonnie? IÂve been taking these for the last couple weeks, but hadnÂt gotten around to downloading them to post. Here are some of them.

Snow Crocus (donÂt know the species, but possibly chrysanthus). The flowers are tiny, just over an inchÂand I love them! These were just put in late last fall.

And hereÂs my one small patch of "regular," crocus with the big flowers. I definitely need more of theseÂand in other colors too.

And hereÂs one of the pictures of my Rocky Mountain Pasque Flower, Pulsatilla patens. (March 19)

HereÂs one with all the fuzzy buds when it was just starting to open. (March 14)

My first daffodil will be opening in the next day or two, and my hyacinths are getting big enough to be showing color on the buds, but theyÂll still be a little while. I also have one primula thatÂs had a flower or two open for the last couple weeks, but the foliage looks way too ratty to take a picture of it yet, and itÂs in a shady corner which make it hard to get a good picture even when itÂs looking really good.

I love your snowdrops, Azura. I used to have a few of those when I lived down in Parker, and maybe I need to get a few of them in at this house now.

ItÂs soooo great to have things starting to bloom again,
Skybird

Skybird, your crocuses are simply gorgeous!
Now I'm getting nervous that the pocket gopher who calls my garden home has been feasting on crocuses all winter long. Should I at least see the foliage? Do critters eat crocus?
I have some of both types of crocus planted in my main bed and I don't see them yet. I have a lot of daffodils coming up and some will bloom in the next day or two so I am guessing that my garden conditions are similar in temperature to Skybird's.
Maybe its time to give up my pacifist ways and go hunting for pocket gophers and voles. I'm still working on convincing the hubby that we need another cat.

If youÂre not even seeing foliage for the crocus yet, Azura, I think you might have a problem. So, down with pacifism! Never thought IÂd say that, but when it comes to bulb eating critters, maybe itÂs time for some revisionist thinking! Based on my experience, crocus should at least be showing by the time snowdrops are blooming.

I just did a little research, and, as we all know, daffodils are toxic, so thatÂs probably why theyÂre ok, and from what IÂve found, your Galanthus are at least somewhat toxic too, so theyÂre probably immune, but when I started looking for crocus, the only ones I found were autumn crocus, which are completely different from regular crocus, and are apparently very toxic. So it looks like regular crocus, if theyÂre toxic at all (I did find them on a couple lists, but some people still think poinsettias are toxic too), may not have enough toxicity to scare off something like a gopher. I think your best bet at this point would be to dig around where the crocus are (were?) planted and see if you can find any indication that they ever were (or still are) there.

Underground critters can do a lot of damage, and I wouldnÂt have much patience for that. Last summer I happened to notice a couple mice out in my perennial bed, and I put D-con out in a safe place where the neighborhood cats (which should be controlled by their humans in the first place) couldnÂt get to it, and IÂm hopeful that it did the trick, but IÂll be watching for them again this summer. I keep D-con out in my shed and in my garage too. The last house I lived in (rental) was inundated with miceÂthey completely undermined one of the small flower beds I hadÂand in 10 years I never was able to make much of a dent in the population because there were so many of them. (And, yes, they were in the house too.) So IÂm gonna be absolutely certain the population never gets out of hand at this house. So whatever you decide to do, I recommend trying to get rid of whatever critters you have sooner rather than later. If you have one, you probably have at least twoÂand that could get into a Richter scale equation pretty quickly!

Good luckÂI hope you still find something when you go looking for your crocus bulbs,
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Toxic Plant List

I have a ton of crocus coming up, some just barely breaking through the mulch and some with the flower getting ready to open - Azura give it some more time. Some of mine have just poked up since yesterday. I planted them last spring and they did nothing all last year (well nothing I could see). Now I have to mark where they are so I don't accidentally dig them up when I'm planting. I thought I planted daffs, but nothing ever happened with those. I do have tulips where I know I planted tulips so that's a good sign.

Gee you guys, the photos are great! I'd like to say I have something blooming but I'm still under about four feet of the white stuff. The edge of the yard, in front of the house is now uncovered and, lo and behold, I found a green johnny-jump-up! No, not blooming, but I transplanted it there last fall from an inconspicuous spot and was hoping it would return this year. First bit of green in my yard so far.

First crocus bloomed this morning. Not very impressive looking, but I'm happy to see it. The daffodils have been looking close to ready for more than a week, and one might peek out soon.

The redbud branches I brought indoors are blooming, though.

Oh, I am drooling and crying at the same time! The photos are wonderful while I cry because none of the crocus or tulips I planted last fall are showing any signs of life. None, a big. fat. zero. 0 :(

Anyways.... hello to everyone and thanks for sharing your pics.

Okay am I going crazy or did I post to this about how cool the moss rock and redbud branches are?? Now the post is gone... did anyone see it or am I crazy?

Azura-

Looks like the first try didn't make it up. I think sometimes I forget to press the "submit" after the "preview"...

Thanks for the nice comments! I can't take credit for the moss rock... It was part of the existing landscaping and all I did was plant crocuses next to it. I am pleased with the redbud branches, though. I've got some crabapple trimmings I'm trying to get to flower now, too.

mtgrower - give it more time. I planted mine last spring and didn't get anything until this year

Just had to pop back in here and mention that I was pleasantly surprised this afternoon by a peeking crocus :) *sigh... I'm soooo impatient lol

My crocus have an eastern exposure so not the best for early blooming.

But, I do have a flower in my yard - it's this here lawn violet:

I've picked our crocus as they come up and put them in little vases by a window..they are so cheery!
I was hoping to buy some more flowers and plant them to fill in spots but no luck anywhere..and bulbs cant be bought until atleast Sept :(

Our daffodils are blooming nicely too!

The daffodils here are just starting to form buds, but today they are buried under the snow. Maybe when this winter blast passes, they'll open up to say it really is spring.

Freshman, the Walmart here had the "grand opening" for their garden center this weekend. They had a few things out that were blooming, like English daisies, which could probably be planted out now. They are pretty cold hardy. They also had some Columbines, tulips, and daffodils, and a few other things, I can't remember what though. I showed great restraint and only bought bagged compost, stakes for my future tomato plants, and a couple of 'Ozark Beauty' strawberry plants to replace the ones that didn't return this year. I did a Yahoo search and they are supposed to be hardy to zone 4, but mine were in containers, so maybe if they had been in the ground they would have survived.

Bonnie