Gardens in Winter
Pam
decided to take advantage of wonderfully mild and pleasant weather and
visit the Winter Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum. What an
astounding display!! In full bloom were 8 different cultivars of witch
hazel, assorted heathers, sasanqua camellias, wintersweet, hellebores,
winter jasmine and honeysuckle, cyclamen, mahonia and sweet box
(sarcoccoca). Additional color was provided by the bark of shrub
dogwoods, ghost bramble and various ornamental grasses. It was extremely
inspiring to see the variety of winter interest plants available - at
least for those of us fortunate enough to live relatively mild winter
climates.
Have you ever noticed how many winter blooming plants are intensely
fragrant? I would assume that is to maximize the attraction to whatever
early season pollinators are out there. The hummingbirds were sure
having a field day, though.
Pam - gardengal
Seattle
Steven Cangemi
> Have you ever noticed how many winter blooming plants are intensely
> fragrant?
To be honest I haven't. Winter flowers isn't part of my climate. Thanks
for sharing the view!
--
Steven Cangemi
42N, 73W
USDA zone 5
Wendy B G
>decided to take advantage of wonderfully mild and pleasant weather and
>visit the Winter Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum. What an
>astounding display!!
Like the plants, I am green...with envy ;-)!
Wendy
Wayne Bell
University of Waterloo. It was protected by a building and growing on
the south side.
Very unusual for this climate.
Wayne
lee
<cangemi-ya0230800...@news.mybizz.net>:
>In article <3A5F28A0...@home.com>, Pam
><grdn...@home.com> wrote:
>
>> Have you ever noticed how many winter blooming plants are
>> intensely fragrant?
>
>To be honest I haven't. Winter flowers isn't part of my
>climate. Thanks for sharing the view!
Zone 5 should have witch hazels that bloom in February,
possibly hellebores, too.
i need to get out in the woods & see what's going on... it's
almost time for syruping :)
lee in NH
Steven Cangemi
> can...@ulster.net (Steven Cangemi) wrote in
> <cangemi-ya0230800...@news.mybizz.net>:
> >To be honest I haven't. Winter flowers isn't part of my
> >climate. Thanks for sharing the view!
>
> Zone 5 should have witch hazels that bloom in February,
> possibly hellebores, too.
> i need to get out in the woods & see what's going on... it's
> almost time for syruping :)
> lee in NH
You've got me seriously confused. Is NH standing for something other than
New Hampshire? The witch hazel that grows here blooms in autumn.
Hellebores cannot bloom until they are exposed typically in March,
sometimes as late as April. The maple sap tends to run sometime in March.
--
Steven Cangemi
New York 42N, 73W
USDA zone 5
lee
>In article <9029ADC5Een...@199.125.85.9>,
>eni...@empire.net (lee) wrote:
>
>> can...@ulster.net (Steven Cangemi) wrote in
>> <cangemi-ya0230800...@news.mybizz.net>:
>
>> >To be honest I haven't. Winter flowers isn't part of my
>> >climate. Thanks for sharing the view!
>>
>> Zone 5 should have witch hazels that bloom in February,
>> possibly hellebores, too.
>> i need to get out in the woods & see what's going on...
>> it's
>> almost time for syruping :)
>> lee in NH
>
>You've got me seriously confused. Is NH standing for
>something other than New Hampshire? The witch hazel that
>grows here blooms in autumn. Hellebores cannot bloom until
>they are exposed typically in March, sometimes as late as
>April. The maple sap tends to run sometime in March.
ok, so we have confused witch hazels. i find they bloom in early
spring when there's a warm spell. yellow flowers... not showy.
i don't know about hellebores, i don't have any. i've just
heard they bloom before the snow completely melts.
syruping starts as soon as daytime temps go above freezing.
that can be anytime between February and April. it sometimes
runs in fits & starts too. it's not an exact science :)
lee
David J. Bockman
blooms a lovely red.
--
David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
Bunabayashi Bonsai On The World Wide Web: http://www.bunabayashi.com
email: d...@bunabayashi.com
lee <eni...@empire.net> wrote in message
news:902FC8438en...@199.125.85.9...
Michael Strauch
> ok, so we have confused witch hazels. i find they bloom in early
> spring when there's a warm spell. yellow flowers... not showy.
Are you quite sure that you are not talking about forsythia?
Ann
>ok, so we have confused witch hazels. i find they bloom in early
>spring when there's a warm spell. yellow flowers... not showy.
> i don't know about hellebores, i don't have any. i've just
>heard they bloom before the snow completely melts.
> syruping starts as soon as daytime temps go above freezing.
>that can be anytime between February and April. it sometimes
>runs in fits & starts too. it's not an exact science :)
>lee
No, they're not confused, many of the cultivars bloom in
February/March. Arnold's Promise is a nice one, there's a huge plant
just beyond my property line I enjoy every spring.
--
Ann, Gardening in Zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************
http://www.annzoid.com
Stephen M. Henning
Forsythia is quite showy, especially compared to witch hazel. Here in
SE Pennsylvania the witch hazel has showy fall foilage and flowers that
come anywhere from late fall to early spring depending upon the variety.
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to shen...@fast.net
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
www.users.fast.net/~shenning/rhody.html
Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at:
members.aol.com/rhodyman/rhodybooks.html
Cheers Steve Henning at:
www.users.fast.net/~shenning
lee
<mstrauch-94DB54...@news.earthlink.net>:
quite :) forsythia is a weedy shrub & the flowers are showier
than witch hazel. forsythia also blooms later here, although
there are the odd fall flowers when there's a freeze & then a
warm spell... perhaps that's why your witch hazel bloomed in the
fall?
lee
lee
<94dab4$nm$1...@bob.news.rcn.net>:
>I'm especially fond of a variety of Witch hazel named
>'Firecracker', it blooms a lovely red.
yeah, i'm looking for one (or more) of those. i've had no luck
locally. do you know if anyone has it for mailorder?
oh, and it's not going to be invasive, right?
lee
Pam
readily available in your area. Gossler Farms in Oregon does mail order
and has a great selection. These are some of the more readily available
cultivars.
Diane - deep red
Jelena - bronzey-orange
Ruby Glow - red
Winter Beauty - orange
Arnold's Promise - chrome yellow
Hiltingbury - bright, clear yellow
Pallida - pale yellow
there is even a purple flowering one - sorry, can't remember the name
and it's also pretty hard to come by.
PAm - gardengal