More (Petite) Bulbous Treasures of Late Winter

 Spring seems just around the corner, with more bulbous treasures popping up every day around the garden.

Narcissus `Dove Wings' (below) is fading; the cups (corollas) opened bright lemon but a week later they're cream; still very pretty. I love the look of these sweet clumps and this little daff seems to be increasing nicely.

Showing off are the lilac blooms of Crocus tommasinianus `Pictus', a hardy corm (top). The flowers open up in warmth, and in sunshine. I can't have put more than 3 corms in this little pot so each is blooming superbly.

For the first time I'm growing velvet-black and apple green Iris tuberosa (Hermodactylus tuberosus, Morning Widow Iris, Snake's Head, above), a tuberous perennial from the Mediterranean, so it should do well here.

Greenhood orchids - tuberous perennials native to south-eastern Australia - are still emerging. Nodding Greenhood Orchids (Pterostylis nutans, above) have a long flowering season from late winter to late spring and dot many a bushland reserve, so look out for these sweet harbingers of spring. I've also bought a couple of tubes of Nodding Greenhood in the past, and they've filled up a nice pot (now by the front door).

Many of these treasures remind me of the wonderful Mr Harvey. Marcus, we miss you. 

Jill Weatherhead is horticulturist, writer, garden designer and principal at Jill Weatherhead Garden Design who lives in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, and works throughout Victoria. (www.jillweatherheaddesign.com.au)