It is that time of the month again to celebrate blooming flowers in our gardens. Carol of May Dream Gardens hosts this monthly extravaganza and I've joined her most of last year. This year has been a challenge. Last month I had pretty Makeupius iciclium, but they are gone for now. Nothing is blooming. Even the pretty berries from my holly bush have been stripped off of the bushes by the ravenous birds.
I still have the skeletons of old flowers. Dark red brown globes on the rudebeckia have been denuded of seeds, but they still provide structure under the snow. My sedum's seed heads make beautiful patterns of light and shade. Surprisingly the coriander still has seeds on their heads. I guess my birds don't have a taste for seasonings.
I also have the promise of blooms to come. The earliest is my hellebore. The snow has melted along the fence and part of its evergreen leaves have become uncovered. The showiest are my rhododendrons with their large buds. Will I have flowers by March? Time will tell.
Yes, sedum can really add something to the garden in winter (and during the rest of the year of course...).
ReplyDeleteHere, we only had a week of snow in January, and spring seems to approach, but slowly, so slowly (allthough: I found the first dandelion yesterday!)
The seedheads really do provide some interest and structure to the winter garden. Soon spring will be here and you will lots to share with us. :)
ReplyDeleteLovely picture of the sedum seedheads! Very nice against the snow. And a first dandelion already? Wow!
ReplyDeleteI think seedheads are incredibly attractive..especially close up! I bring them inside and display them...Right now, I've little pink seeds of callicarpa, gomphrena, chasmanthus, Downy Wood Mint and even a rose hip or two! They look good in the garden, too!
ReplyDeleteI feel exactly the same about seedheads...that photo is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI sometimes get impatient this time of year for the growing season to get here.
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing about hellebores, and that is the new plant I hope to start growing. I hope yours does well this year.
February is a hard month for finding blooms--I am in much the same position as you, Daphne. Your hellebores are looking hopeful for March, though. Take heart, spring will be here soon!
ReplyDeleteI think February is a tough month for everyone. It seems we are so close to spring, there ought to be more blooming!
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining in,
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Happy GBBD. I bet you can't wait for that Rhodi to open.
ReplyDeleteI like your ghosts of flowers past, and the shot of the receding snow that offers the promise of spring. Some climates require more patience than others. You'll get there! :) Happy Bloom Day.
ReplyDeleteNice that you have the seedheads for memories of what the flowers did. I'm starting to leave them on my plants in the summer. I think they're often pretty gorgeous on their own.
ReplyDeleteOh Daphne, those picture could have been from my garden, not a lot of color...let's say they are hopeful. In a few weeks we can show some more colorful pics :-)
ReplyDeletexoxo Tyra
Hi Daphne, I do so hope you have flowers by March, March is a month that is so long it better have something to offer us! Seedheads on the coriander/cilantro? Does is self sow for you? Your hellebore looks like H. niger with those tooth edged leaves? Happy GBBD. Belated. I was out of town yesterday. :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
Thanks all for the wonderful comments. The hellebore is new to me too. It was given to me as a gift for my birthday about a year ago. I didn't know it was a pretty winter/spring flower until I read the tag (thanks Mary Anne). The tag said it was a hardy plant here so I (not very well, since I've been bad with houseplants recently) kept it alive until the ground unfroze and planted it. I'm hoping for blooms this spring (and following Frances blog about how to care for it since I'm clueless on a lot of the ornamentals).
ReplyDeleteFrances: My daffodils blooms usually in April. Last year NONE of them bloomed. It was really weird. My irises followed suit. All in all last year was unusual with all the rain and no acorns (I've never seen that before). My coriander/cilantro does self sow every year along with my parsley and dill. I usually only collect the seed for seasonings. I have plenty that will come up in the garden. Though last year the dill was so strong I collected over 2 cups. Wow. Too much dill is strange. I gave it away to friends for pickles. I've never done that before. The cilantro was great as a herb, but the coriander (same plant but the seed part of it) had trouble setting well in the wet weather. I'm hoping for plants this spring from the mildewed seed that I refused to collect. Weirdly the seed I see now on the skeleton plants are mildew free. They set very late. I'm not sure if they are viable or not.
Oh, Daphne, be sure to post pics of the hellebore. I picked up some seed today- to start 15-20 weeks before last frost. So that means Nov. for me- hope I don't forget! I'd read that they take some time to germinate! This should be interesting!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will have lots of flowers by March! :)
ReplyDeleteI love coriander! Too bad for the birds they haven't discovered it yet. Maybe it doesn't go well on holly. ;)