Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms—Spring Flowers (2020)

I've been rather lazy this year about recording the first blooms of plants in the garden this year. I missed the date of the miniature cyclamen that is always the first flower of the new year and likewise the date of the first blooms on the white plum tree in the side yard. I have recorded a few, though. The yellow daffodils in the front of the house first bloomed this year on February 20. The pluot "Dapple Dandy" bloomed on April 15. The pluot called "Flavor King" first bloomed on February 18 and the dwarf peach behind the house had its first flowers on February 21. The two-toned daffodils at the front of the house bloomed on February 29, more than a week later than the yellow ones, which is normal. The magnolia-like Michelia yunnanensis bloomed on February 29 as well.

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms—Species Tulips, Michelia Yunanensis, and Two-toned Daffodils

A little warmth in the air today and a lull in the rain has coaxed out some new flowers in the garden. Today, March 9, the first species tulips bloomed (in this case Tulipa bakeri). First blooms today also on Michelia yunnanensis, a small tree related to the magnolias. Belatedly, I report also the first blooms on the two-toned daffodils in the garden, which opened on February 24.

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--Michelia Yunnanensis, Rosa Mutabilis (March 11, 2014)

Warm weather has coaxed out new flowers in the garden. On the 11th, the first buds of this year opened on the Michelia Yunnanensis (a magnolia relative native to the Far East) at the side of the house. I love this plant for its deep green foliage and the beautiful cinnamon-colored covers on the buds. The 11th was also the first day of blooms on the large wild rose, also on the side of the house. This is Rosa mutabilis chinensis. It lives up to its name. The color of the blossoms is highly mutable, changing as the flowers age.

Plants I'm growing: First Blooms--Michelia yunnanensis

First blooms on the Michelia yunnanensis on the southeast side of the house opened today. The plant continues to look precarious. It would fall over if unstaked, but it seems to be holding its own. I have read that the botanists have completely redone the magnolias and relatives so that Michelia is now considered part of the genus Magnolia and that this plant is now called Magnolia dianica. Whatever you call it, it's a compact shrub or small tree with dark leaves and large, creamy white flowers that I find very attractive. Actually, as magnolias and their relatives go, the flowers are quite small--about two inches across. The flower buds are covered with a red-brown fuzz, as if they were all dusted with cinnamon (visible at upper left in the photo). The plant is native to southern China--Yunnan Province, I imagine--which is why I prefer the original Latin name. Also, Yunnan is evocative of tea. Being a tea lover, that probably contributes.

Michelia Yunnanensis is supposed to do well here, but this one has been slow to get established. I continue to coddle it and hope for the best. There's a beautiful one at the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park (just outside the little sitting area beside the library) that's probably in full bloom now.