Ten Blooms for December.

‘ Gardener , if you heed , heed well :

Plant for your wintertime delight , when the month

Dishearten ; flora to find a slight note

Chimonanthus praecox

Touched from the brittle violin of hoar . ’

From ‘ The Garden’ . Vita Sackville - West

I love the outline of trees against a purple wintertime sky . I love the texture and shape of evergreens without the distraction of flowers . I planted a heavy part of my garden to revel in winter , with colored barque and interesting leaf . But the icing on the cake of course , are the delicate look flowers which weather the bad of the winter weather . None of them are showy ; most are shy and retire and you have to seek them out . Many of them are fragrant because they rely on odor to entice any bee brave enough to be out and about .

Chimonanthus praecox

Each calendar month when I save about my ten pet blooms I try out to stick with industrial plant that are blossom in their proper time of year . December is the most challenging month for finding ten beautiful blooms to recommend , because many of my favourites do n’t really get go away until later in January and February .

I ’ll start with my favourite flowering shrub . It is the Winter Sweet , Chimonanthuspraecoxand it comes from China . It grow to about seven feet tall . I get laid the flowers which look like pallid maize claws . They open from little round buttons . Graham Stuart Thomas said they are dirty ointment . in reality the colouration is varying ; some are primrose yellow and I have escort one in Cambridge Botanical Gardens which is ashen . They have internal petal which are maroon .

Chimonanthus praecox

Chimonanthus praecoxwith last year’s seedheads

The aroma of these flower is mythologic ; it is spicily sweet and a small sprig fills the room with a marvelous fragrance . The drawback is that it needs a affectionate , cheery status , preferably in front of a due south - facing wall to bloom well . This would n’t weigh if it did n’t look so coarse and unattractive in summer . I get round the job by grow a viticella clematis up it . I have never succeeded in striking cutting but it has little lantern- like seed cause full of seeds . They germinate readily but do not start to bloom until they are about seven years old . I grew mine from seeded player about twenty days ago . It moved around with me during a turbulent sentence in my animation and clearly resented being dug up four times in three years ; it showed its resentment by not flower for a few years . This year it is full of bloom and looking felicitous again , I intend it has determine that it has number home .

Chimonanthus praecoxwith last twelvemonth ’s seedheads

The Christmas uprise , Helleborus nigerlives up to its name most years and blossom on Christmas Day . I used to have one with huge blossom called ‘ Potter ’s Wheel ’ , but I have n’t get along across it for some long time . This plant life grows in woodland in its natural habitat so it likes fond shade and destiny of leafage cast . Unfortunately , slug revel munching on the flowers .

Helleborus niger

genus Helleborus niger

I loveHelleborus orientalisand once they get going later in the winter they blossom for months . I decided to have some that I could enjoy in the greenhouse this yr , whatever the weather condition . I choose the lovely hybridHelleborus‘Anna ’s Red ’ . This was breed by Rodney Davey and mention after Anna Pavord . It has stunning pinky reddened flowers and marbleized leaves .

Helleborus ‘ Anna ’s Red ’

Helleborus ‘Anna’s Red’

Helleborus‘Anna”s Red ’ leaves

The other hellebore I have in the nursery isHelleborus‘Silver Lace ’ . When I bought it , I thought it wasHelleborus lividuswhich come from Majorca and is not dependably hardy . in reality it is the CorsicanHelleborus argutifoliusso it is quite fearless and can be plant in the garden . I enjoy the silvery , bristly leaf .

Helleborus argutifolius‘Silver lace ’

Helleborus‘Anna”s Red’ leaves

Skimmia japonica‘Rubella ’ bloom of youth in the spring with pinkish flowers but I prefer it when it has the dingy red bud in winter . It is perfectly stout in the garden but I have one in a pot in the greenhouse for a bit of color .

Skimmia japonica‘Rubella ’

Of course snowdrops sport strongly in my top ten December inclination of favourites . This is the reliableGalanthus‘Farringdon Double ’ .

Helleborus argutifolius‘Silver lace’

Galanthus‘Farringdon twice ’

Galanthus‘Remember , Remember ’ bloomed for Armistice Day and was still looking respectable well into December .

Galanthus‘Remember , Remember ’

Skimmia japonica‘Rubella’

Also in peak are severalGalanthus elwesiiandGalanthus‘Three Ships ’ which faithfully blossom for Christmas ’ .

Galanthus’Three Ships ’

I reckon I should admit viburnums as they obligingly bloom throughout the winter calendar month . I ca n’t say I love them though . These blossom go a bit brown in the frost and icing but carry on happily when the icing lets up .

Galanthus‘Farringdon Double’

Viburnum bodnantense‘Dawn ’

One winter inflorescence viburnum that is emphatically not one of my favorite December blush isViburnum tinus . I have it everywhere even though I have dug up several and I do dislike it . The leave are often covered in white fly front and as I have said before it smell out unspeakable when it is wet . Someone near here has institute it all the path up his prospicient drive and I should detest to walk there when it has been raining . But having been so rude about it I have to admit that if you take away all the leaves it is quite useful for a vase .

Viburnum tinus‘Eve Price ’

Galanthus‘Remember, Remember’

The lovely winter floweringIris unguicularisseems quite unconcerned by big weather , the flowers expect too delicate for the middle of winter . If you pick it in bud it will spread out in water . I get it on the sky blue one but I also love this picket lavender one .

Iris unguicularis ‘ Walter Butt ’

I suppose I should mention wintertime jasmine as it obligingly bloom all wintertime . Wherever the root word suffer the earth it root , so you never need be without it . It ’s not a works which makes the heart dumbfound quicker , but it is useful .

Galanthus’Three Ships’

Jasminum nudiflorum

Another climber is a clematis which sounds more like a liver disease rather than a works . It isClematiscirrhosa‘jingle Bells ’ . I leave to take a pic of it so I have just been down the garden in the wickedness to pick a few flowers .

Clematis cirrhosa‘Jingle gong ’

Viburnum bodnantense‘Dawn’

I usedClematis cirrhosa‘Freckles ’ in my Christmas vase . I love these delicate wintertime unfolding clematis . They look so fragile but they are quite fearless .

Clematis cirrhosa‘Freckles ’

I have already rip off a bit by indicate plants in the greenhouse rather than the garden and now I am going to take you indoors to see my lovely slipper orchid which is blooming for the third year . I have plenty ofPhalaenopsisor Moth orchids which bloom for week on end on the kitchen windowpane Beverly Sills . But this is a bite more special . It looks as if it is made of wax .

Viburnum tinus‘Eve Price’

Orchid paphiopedilum

I will finish with my favourite December flower . It is the diminutive daffodil , Narcissusminor‘Cedric Morris ’ . Most twelvemonth it contend to be in flush for Christmas Day . It is rare and howling and very subtle . Just as you guess you have a adorable big clump it will run out to appear one yr . I think it is very vulnerable to attack from Narcissus Fly , I do n’t know why it should suffer more than other Narcissus pseudonarcissus but over the class I have lost quite a few . It is always a moderation when it appears . For a little more about the history of this daffodil clickhere .

Narcissus minor‘Cedric Morris ’

Iris unguicularis ‘Walter Butt’

So there are my top ten blush for December . Next month there will be some more exciting flush as more fragrant shrubs come into flower . If you have any treasure to share , I would love to see them . If you ca n’t feel ten , just one beautiful bloom is a treat in December .

36 Responses toTen Blooms for December.

Despite your trepidation about finding 10 blooms in December , I think you ’ve had stellar success ! I have an ‘ Anna ’s Red ’ hellebore in my own garden – she has n’t bloomed yet but it looks as though she ’s gear up for it . That plant is remarkable and , despite my investment in others , it ’s still the good performer I have in that genus . How I bid I had even that much success with Clematis ! I take my camera out on Christmas Day in hunting of blooms I had n’t had on Bloom Day and found just a few newbies , which I feature in a raw place this aurora .

You have some real December gemstone there Chloris . Why do some plant life like chimonanthes take so long to flower ? Seven years becomes a farsighted time when you get to a sealed historic period 🙂 Your indoor helleborus ‘ Anna ’s Red ’ looks so much happier than mine which is break to the factor .

No blooms outside when the in high spirits is 7F. I do have some indoor blooms in the sun parlor , and they will increase as the daytime lengthen . Your bloom flowers are beautiful !

Jasminum nudiflorum

Great place , thanks !

Ten Blooms for December.