PBS Forum

The muscari is lovely.  It reminds me of the wreaths of flowers that Swedish girls wear, though I can't remember on what special occasion they do so.

Are those unopened buds in the middle that will open later?

That is a spectacular form, with its big black eye.  What was your source - seed or bulb?

I just checked Brent and Becky's website, and this is how they describe the blue hyacinthoides they are selling:

rich deep blue flowers form luscious naturalized woodland meadows and rivers

Fifty years ago, a generous neighbour gave my little daughter a dozen Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica).  They proliferated so much that I have been digging them out every spring.  I compost the leaves, but the bulbs go in the garbage - buckets of them.  Despite years of effort, there are still thousands.  The bulbs have put themselves under the thick roots of camellias and fruit trees where they can't be reached.

This picture shows how they might get themselves out of reach of my fork.  The young bulbs sprout a thick white root.  Do these contract to draw the bulb down?  Does a new bulb form at the bottom?  Or do they move sideways into new territory?  If I weren't so busy digging, I might experiment, but after being photographed, these went into the garbage can.

Hairy bittercress, Cardamine hirsuta.

Dandelion, but only in the winter.  It is too bitter when it begins flowering in the spring.

My deer fortunately won't eat squash plants, or onions, though they really like leeks.

One year they didn't touch a furry-leafed tomato plant.

Of course, YDMD.  (Your deer may differ)

Good heavens, Kathleen.  You have so many more than I do.  It's good I'm living on an island.

Diane

Etsy has replica baboon skulls. 

Also badger, mink, coyote, and camel skulls. If there are matching flowers for each, you could have an entire themed section of your garden!

We could have a new section, placed between Geophyte Discussions and Off-topic Area.

Regional Bulb Growing

North America:
Pacific Northwest Coastal
Pacific Northwest Mountain
California
Southwest

Europe:

etc

Trillium albidum from Oregon and northern California.

The red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) flowers just when the rufous hummingbirds arrive back from their winter home in Mexico.

(We also have Anna's hummingbirds which live here all the time and don't migrate.)

I have lots of natives on my half acre, and am constantly pulling out their seedlings - 

Conifers:  Abies grandis, Taxus brevifolia, Thuja plicata
Broadleaf trees:  Acer macrophyllum, Arbutus menziesii, Cornus nuttallii
Shrubs:  Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Gaultheria shallon, Holodiscus discolor, Lonicera ciliosa, Mahonia aquifolium, M. nervosa, Philadelphus lewisii, Ribes sanguineum, Rubus leucodermis, R. parviflorus, R. spectabilis, R. ursinus, Symphoricarpos albus

I won't mention all the ferns, which sow themselves into my seed-pots.

Natives that grow on my property are Erythronium oregonum, E. hendersonii  and E. revolutum.  The hendersonii is from a bit further south, but grows well here. 

Also a number of Trilliums - Trillium hibbersonii, which is native to a tiny area of the island where I live (Vancouver Island), and T. ovatum which was growing on the land when I bought it.  I also grow several from further south - T. albidum, T. chloropetalum, T. kurabayshi and T. rivale.

Diane

You sure crammed the bulbs in.  What grows there in the summer?

I am already an iNaturalist member.  Are you suggesting an additional membership?