February Flowers

 

"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."

-  Gertrude S. Wister

Daffodils are the first  perennial flowers of February to appear. I need to plant different variety of bulbs such as early tulips and some purple hyacinth to compliment them.  Plans for Fall !  

Thus far the weatherman was right - a milder than usual winter with no snow and only a few days of below freezing weather in January.  Some of my early blooming shrubs were affected but should recover with time.  My evergreen 'Lady Banks' rose did not appreciate the cold temperatures and reacted by losing its leaves.  I doubt that it will bloom this year.

This beautiful winter flowering Daphne 'odora ' has a very fragrant smell and is a welcome sight this time of year.

Viburnum 'spring bouquet ' is another amazing evergreen shrub in bloom this month.  It is both drought resistant and blooms several times during the season.

Although they don't bloom until March/April the year-round colorful foliage of my Euphorbias are a welcome sight.  I have two varieties .

'ascot rainbow ' above

                                     

                                    'blackbird ' above

As Spring officially begins next month I am eager to greet it in my garden.   I'm so lucky to be living in this mild climate where its possible to garden year round.

JANUARY AND BIG DREAMS FOR THE GARDEN YEAR

 He Knows No Winter

By Sudie Stuart Hager

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,

For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,

He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds

From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.

When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,

He visualizes autumn's golden yields;

He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain

Precious moisture for his early grain;

He hears spring-heralds in the storm's turmoil­

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil.

The sweet smelling blooms of Prunus mume 'peggy clarke ' is the first pollinator that attracts many honey bees and is a welcome sight in the midst of January.

January, in keeping with the weatherman's prediction for an El Nino winter, has been very mild.    We had a week of freezing temperatures and I worried that my 'Peggy Clarke ' blooms would be nipped in the bud, but it survived.

Another welcome sight in January are the many hellebores that I planted in my frontyard forest.

These are the quick spreading ones but there are new cultivars that are sterile and have more upward facing blooms.  I keep mine under control by dividing and giving many away to friends and neighbors.  The hellebores are prolific bloomers that last for at least two months and they are evergreen and deer proof.

The deer will eat tulips but leave daffodils and aliums alone ,  The cheerful yellow blooms of my early-blooming daffodils are another January delight and I love that they colonize and fill the forest with their golden flowers.

This first month of the year also inspires plans for adding new additions to the garden.  Last year I added coneflowers and some Euphorbias that did very well.  For more summer flowering perennials I plan to add a dwarf variety of blackeyed Susans that have a long bloom period as well as 'woods blue ' Asters that bloom from Summer to Fall.  

My goal is to continue to add enough perennials to cover the ground so that they shade out weeds and mulch is not needed.    The garden gets plenty of natural mulch with the fallen leaves and pine needles .

Even in January my garden has a lot of interest in both blooming plants and foliage and it makes my heart glad that I transitioned from the long, cold winters of Chicago to the warm sunny South.  To be able to garden year round is better than any medicine.  

OLD DECEMBER'S BARENESS

"How like a winter hath my absence been From thee,

 the pleasure of the fleeting year!

What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

What old December’s bareness every where!

And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time;

The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,

Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,

Like widow’d wombs after their lords’ decease:

Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me

But hope of orphans and unfather’d fruit;

For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,

And, thou away, the very birds are mute:

Or, if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer,

That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near."

- William Shakespeare, How Like a Winter Hath my Absence Been (Sonnet 97)

The last month of the year has come so fast.  The leaves have all fallen and the trees and shrubs are bare .   I spend December going over the garden to check what bare spots need filling come Spring.   More Euphorbia is definitely on my list of 

" must haves ".   The newer colorful varieties are a challenge to grow but as they die I have replaced them with kind, hoping to find a spot they like.  So far they have endured the summer heat and Fall chill.

 

The remains of Autumn -Euphorbia 'ascot rainbow ', Japanese Iris, Autumn sage,  and hardy mums are the longest blooming flowers that often survive into early December, depending of course on the weather .  

I have all but given up on growing Gardenias and Rhododendrons .  I thought that my third attempt was charm but alas, it too sucumbed.  I have tried all varieties and different spots, soil, etc. to no avail.  Meanwhile my neighbor has a 10 year old 10 ' tall gardenia that I'm sure is taunting me.

Although the trees and shrubs are mostly bare there remains a lot of potential in the December garden -Edgeworthia has some buds, Euphorbias its colorful dress, Autumn sage decked out in red,  lavender is a beautiful silver and the late flowering Japanese mum has tiny yellow button shaped flowers.  

Advanced age has not detered me from gardening and as long as I can walk, bend and lift I will continue to do so.  I am looking forward to a new year filled with promise and new plants.  I'm also excited to seeing the rare appearance of a blooming tree in mid-January  ( below ) -Prunus mume 'peggy clarke '.  I love it so much I have two.  

Farewell December !

THE MUSIC OF NOVEMBER

"The wind that makes music in November corn is in a hurry. The stalks hum,the loose husks whisk skyward in half-playing swirls, and the wind hurries on....
A tree tries to argue, bare limbs waving, but there is no detaining the wind."

- Aldo Leopold

November is a busy month both in the garden and in my artists studio and I am behind in my blog posts. The first two weekends I host an open studio that has hundreds of visits from the entire county residents.  As visitors walk to the entrance of my studio through the garden they are awed by the view of November's rich colors and blooms.

       

           Above,  left to right :  Autumn sage, Japanese iris, Hardy mums and Euphorbia grace the November garden.

The long-blooming Coneflowers and Asters are gone but the lovely Dianthus is still flowering.  I  added more Euphorbias and Coreopsis in early Fall and some new varieties of Blackeyed Susan.

My  favorite  'hana jiman ' Camellia ( below ) was very prolific this year and the blooms lasted a long time.  One of the South's favorites, Camellias can be seen around town in so many different colors. 

The weather forecast is predicting a warm winter and thus far it seems to be rather mild.  A few days of below freezing but daytime temperatures are in the high 50's and 60's .

Now onward to the last month of the year.