There are plenty of goings on in the dead of winter around here...
Check out this cool cyclamen getting ready to bloom.
Ready to uncoil! I love the off-season growth & bloom to keep you from getting bored during the winter.
winter garden
I've got about 6 types of cyclamen, all of which are in full leaf now.
They bloom around October, then put out fresh new foliage late full/winter.
The foliage is usually nicely marked. Here's one of my other cyclamens with nice foliage.
Edited for spelling..
This message was edited Jan 7, 2012 3:49 PM
My hellebore foetidus is starting to bloom now.
The blooms are bizarre, not pretty.
The bloom is to the right of the plant.
But the foliage is very nice. Acts like a low-growing ground cover.
Tolerates troublesome sites like dry shade.
My daphne odora Zuiko nishiki looks great.
I doubt it will make it through the season unscathed - it's not quite hardy enough to look good.
But we've had such a warm fall/winter so far this year, it still looks great.
Getting ready to bloom. The scent is fantastic.
Arum italicum is another plant which puts up it's foliage in the winter.
Mine spreads around a little - not yet annoying, but I'm keeping an eye on it.
The foliage is in the winter, then will die to the ground.
Then out of nowhere come up these bizarre spikes of orange berries in summer.
My poppies are putting up lush foliage already
And look at my japanese apricot.
In early January for god's sake.
(OK, I realize it's not a perennial, but I couldn't restrain myself...)
Edited to add: Japanese apricot (prunus mume) is usually my first flowering tree in spring.
But that usually means March, not January...
This message was edited Jan 7, 2012 3:47 PM
Cindy, my h. foetidus is spilling out of the bed it was planted in and is mostly in the edge of the lawn now. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the part with the flower is actually in the lawn. (There are some stones haphazardly marking the edge). I have dozens of seedlings around the perimeter. I should replant them in the actual bed, but never seem to get around to it. It's certainly vigorous and requires no care. And I love the bronzy dissected foliage.
This message was edited Jan 7, 2012 3:54 PM
Weerobin, that mume! And that photo! I never know what to think when flowers bloom in a January thaw, but that's glorious.
Gorgeous mume!
Weerobin,
When does the daphne bloom?? Those buds look ready, now. It is a beautiful shrub, on your pictures.
I am in zone 5, and wonder if you know of any cyclamen that would work in my zone, they are so pretty!!!!!
My ivory prince hellebore, has a bunch of buds still low, inside the foliage.
Cindy, I haven't been out to look at the daphne or hellebore, since they're under snow.
My japanese apricot got zapped - predictable.
That's the chance you take when you plant those early bloomers.
But I still like the occasional flash of spring in the dead of winter. I'll take my chances.
Obliqua, the daphne usually blooms end feb or first march.
The buds form all winter long and look nice and increasingly plump.
It's pretty much not hardy for me (I have to wrap with burlap and it still has significant winter injury),
so I doubt you could have it outside. I have a variegated one in the unheated garage which blooms early Feb and has an outstanding scent. It's in a small pot and I can easily bring it out to the porch for a little fresh air during mild periods of winter. It's nice having a beautiful flowering plant on the porch in the middle of winter!
The picture is of my small daphne odora aureamarginata in a clay pot getting some sun last February.
As for the cyclamens, I think they're hardy for you (not the florist cyclamen, of course).
The key to them is keeping them relatively dry in summer, when they're dormant.
I do that by planting in an area with lots of tree root competition.
The tree roots compete so avidly for the water that it keeps the cyclamen dry.
