My gosh, yesterday was December 14th and I was outside taking pictures without a jacket and it was painless. Painless until I saw this. Disclaimer: A very graphic and disturbing photograph follows. Please do not share this with overly sensitive gardeners. I take no responsibility for their nightmares at a time when sugarplums should be dancing in their heads.
I warned you. Are you sure you want to see this?
Last chance.
No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Make it no be true (as Maria would say in West Side Story).
That was pretty scary. Dandelions should not be blooming in Chicagoland in December. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t bloom at all, but we won’t go there.
My camera and I took the grand tour of the yard. It was practically balmy. Into the shed, out with the gardening tools. I still had bubs to plant from last week’s clearance on bulbs at Bertholds. Other people bought Christmas gifts, I bought bulbs. No surprise on either count.
I did get a surprise as I planted the crocus. The autumn joy sedum that I was planting under had fresh growth.
The rest of the bulbs went into a few coal buckets, pointed sided up in case you are wondering. I had purchased purple and white hyacinth and yellow tulips. I covered them with a little more soilless mix than you see here, and watered them. They’ll go into the garage for the winter, get a little water if they seem dry, and come back out in the spring. I’m already looking forward to the fragrance of the hyacinths.
Do you want to know what else is blooming in the December garden? To see what other bloggers have blooming on the 15th of every month, visit May Dreams Gardens – Bloom Day for our Garden Bloggers’ Bloom day entries.
A late winter doesn’t mean it isn’t coming, lol. I’m always late with bulb planting, too. What wonderful promises to get you through to Spring. Happy Bloom Day.
I’ve also planted a bunch of bulbs – all tulips – in containers. That dandelion is kind of creepy. I’m starting to wish for real winter to finally arrive already.
I think I heard the Psycho shower scene theme playing when I saw the dandelion. LOL We’ve had a mild fall so far here in Washington state and I have dandelions too. Great idea with the bulbs.
[…] My coal bucket experiment has certainly been a success. I planted my coal buckets up last December and put them in the garage. Mike watered them a few times, but basically, we ignored them. We noticed some sprouts in early March and moved the coal buckets outside. Fearing for the life of my little sprouts, we often brought them in on really cold nights. It worked! I have the only blooming hyacinths and tulips in sight. […]