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The First Bloom of the Season

March 18th, 2010

When we first moved in here I planted 300 crocus bulbs (and some tulips, daffodils etc). The following year I ended up with only 1 crocus bloom thanks to the chipmunks around here. I never planted any more, so I usually only have 1 crocus that blooms.

My mom has tons of them that bloom in her gardens, they’re so lovely. She sent me a few photos of hers, they were blooming last week.


This year I spotted one blooming in the front flowerbed and I’m not sure where it came from. It’s right by a hydrangea I planted 2 years ago, so maybe it came in the pot with that. I was out taking photos and was there at the right time because I got to see one of our bees gathering some pollen. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

I would love to plant more crocuses in my garden, I’m trying to figure out how to do with while keeping them safe from chipmunks. I’ve read you can plant the bulbs in baskets. I’ve had good luck sprinkling tulip bulbs with garlic to keep them from digging them up right away, but I’m thinking they’ll still eat them later, when the garlic washes away.

What’s the first thing to bloom in your garden? Anyone have any great tips on keeping chipmunks, moles & squirrels away from bulbs?

13 Comments to “The First Bloom of the Season”
  1. pam on March 18, 2010 at 6:36 am

    Lovely! I have trouble with bulbs in our clay soil :(
    .-= pam´s last blog ..Happy St. Patrick’s Day! =-.

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  2. Kelly on March 18, 2010 at 8:30 am

    Crocus, definitely. They remind me of my father, and that’s an extra reason to love them (aside from them blooming just when I’m aching for spring/summer gardeny growth). The daffodils are up, though not nearly ready to bloom, and the rhubarb is poking.

    My squirrel problem is more along the lines of having the little buggers dig holes in my nice soft garden soil and burying their stash.

    Does anything else bloom as early as crocus?
    .-= Kelly´s last blog ..White Day and Other Things =-.

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  3. Tree on March 18, 2010 at 8:38 am

    I know this is going to sound odd, but feed the chipmunks. My parents have lots of squirrels and chipmunks and to keep them out of the garden and the bulbs they feed them.
    .-= Tree´s last blog ..63 and Sunny! =-.

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  4. AGinPA on March 18, 2010 at 9:50 am

    I’ve read you can enclose bulbs in chicken wire to keep squirrels and chipmunks away from them. I haven’t tried it myself since our squirrels haven’t found my bulbs… yet.

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  5. warren on March 18, 2010 at 10:03 am

    Half a dozen stray cats roaming about seem to have fixed all of our rodent problems…though I am sure there is a better way…
    .-= warren´s last blog ..West Vir-Ginny! =-.

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  6. MAYBELLINE on March 18, 2010 at 10:34 am

    1st bloom = Santa Rosa Plum
    I’ve never had those varmints. Gopher control is assigned to a couple of yard cats.
    .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Nasturtiums, Wisteria, Strawberries, Grapes =-.

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  7. the inadvertent farmer on March 18, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    Baskets are the way to go!

    Crocus are our first…they are now done and the cherry and pear trees are in full bloom! kIm
    .-= the inadvertent farmer´s last blog ..Cherry Blossoms in the Spring Fog =-.

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  8. Morgan G on March 18, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    Crazily enough, our first bloom this year was a young California Buckeye we planted nearly two years ago. One week we were debating whether to uproot him, thinking he was dead, the next he was exploding with green leaves and a few blooms. He showed us.
    .-= Morgan G´s last blog ..ReRip: Reduce, Reuse, Reride =-.

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  9. Pampered Mom on March 18, 2010 at 2:16 pm

    No blooms yet and that’s probably a good thing given that it’s supposed to go back into the forties and possibly snow this weekend. The early Spring flowers are always so pretty, though.
    .-= Pampered Mom´s last blog ..A Little Thing Called Perspective =-.

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  10. Lona on March 18, 2010 at 4:25 pm

    Don’t you just love surprise flowers LOL! What beautiful pictures of the Honeybee.
    .-= Lona´s last blog ..The Awaking =-.

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  11. Ashley on March 18, 2010 at 8:21 pm

    I just bought my house this winter and it was vacant for a year before so we were a little nervous about what we would find under the snow, but about two thaws ago my husband was raking leaves out of the bed on one side of our house and surpise! Crocuses everywhere! They are slowing down now, but my hyacinths have started to bloom (it feels weird to call them mine since I didn’t plant them, but I suppose they are my property now)

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  12. Julia on March 18, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    Our first was a little purple crocus. Happy sigh. That said, I can’t stand chipmunks. They devastate everything around my house. I have heard blood meal does the job, but I used it and don’t really thing it worked so well. Worth a try, it won’t hurt the soil. Quite the opposite!
    .-= Julia´s last blog ..Roasted Garlic and Candied Ginger Jelly =-.

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  13. sweetlife on March 18, 2010 at 10:22 pm

    What great shots!! We drove to san Antonio this past weekend and just had to stop and take some pics of the Texas bluebonnets oh they were goregous just a bed of blue!! Lovely!!
    .-= sweetlife´s last blog ..Salty Cookies–Yummy!! =-.

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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