As we are experiencing a rather mild winter, spring seems to be arriving earlier under glass. Many of these pots are old friends – going dormant during their hot and dry summer rest, and blooming sometime during the winter months. Crocus sieberi (left) bulbous oxalis (upper orange color), a Babiana fragrans (upper right pale yellow), Viola adroit (lower right) and Cyclamen coup (center pink), help represent some of our planets rarest treasures.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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\nA true winter garden, is generally an un-heated conservatory or glassed structure which is often unheated, but protected from deep freezes. My greenhouse is technically still a greenhouse, albeit a ‘cool house’, as the temperatures remain above 40 degrees F., it can reach 70 degrees during sunny days in January. Now that it is February, I feel that we are ‘over the hump’ at least when it comes to the coldest temperatures, which generally arrive in early and mid-January. I should be careful though, as last winter, it remained far below freezing, near 0 deg F. until nearly March ( and that 119 inch snow fall), I do believe that our el Ni\u00f1o treat will continue here – the thermometer reached 65 deg. F today – outdoors! Talk about winter garden! At least, the bulbs inside are earlier this year – here are a few that are blooming now. Many of these will be familiar to you, if you are a blog follower. I am always so surprised at how these little treasures return year after year, sometimes with more bloom, and in other years, not so much.<\/div>\n
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Ornithogalum fimbriatum – a small, tine alpine form of these lovely yet under appreciated genus, native to the Balkans, Republic of Georgia and Turkey. This is a rare bulb which few ever see outside of collectors greenhouses.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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This unusual species of Ipheon, Ipheon (Northoscordum) dailystemon is one small bulb that you won’t find in most, if any, bulb catalogs. This tiny beauty has been blooming on and off, since November. I am trying to save seed from my 5 bulbs so that I can fill a pot with the tiny bulbs. I dream of having full pots of these flowers, as one sees in the great British Alpine Society shows.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n