Nothing says spring is coming better than a bright yellow patch of crocus blooming in late winter! This shot was taken the first week of February, and many of them are still blooming.
Jelena Witch-hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) 'Jelena' is quite stunning. This photo was taken the first week of February at Boone County arboretum in Northern Kentucky. The mild weather this winter has really caused our spring blooming witch-hazels to explode into bloom throughout the region. Jelena however, is a favorite with its extra long petals that are a glowing coppery orange in color.
This is H. x intermedia 'Diane' for those who like more of a reddish flower.
H. x intermedia. Even un named hybrid witch-hazel can be quite stunning. As you see in the background however some of these hold so many leaves that the flowers are hidden, this is why named selections are very important when it comes to witch-hazels.
Here we have H x intermedia 'Arnold Promise', as it was just starting to open flowers.
Dawn Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense) 'Dawn'. This is always the first of the viburnums to bloom in Kentucky. The flowers almost always get burned by freezing weather, but its still a welcome sight to remind us that winter is almost over. This plant started blooming in early February and is still trying to bloom!
And last but not least, yesterday at my own garden, my favorite hellebore opened up its blooms finally. Some of you may remember this plant last year when I blogged about it on February 23, 2011. Back then, it was just starting to expand out the flowers. I would say that we are 1-2 weeks ahead of last year on this plant, though other plants in my garden and at the nearby arboretum are up to 3 weeks ahead of last year!
The first viburnum blooms this year have started opening on our Dawn Bodnant Virburnum. Not to worry, this plant always blooms very early in response to mild weather. As you can see in the picture, the bright pink buds open pale pink before fading to white. The flowers are also fragrant. This 8-10 ft tall and 4-6ft wide shrub also offers good red fall color as well as the very early bloom period when most other plants are still at rest. Thethe
Sometimes you need some awesome winter interest to get you through those dreary winter days in Kentucky. While a good display of colorful fruit can be hard to beat, I think beautiful winter bark has more staying power because it never goes away. Yep, bark is pretty much bird proof! Here are two of my favorites that I think could be used more in landscapes within our region:
China Snow Lilac (Syringa pekinensis) 'China Snow'- To me, this is one of the most stunning of all our plants in terms of winter bark interest at the Boone County Arboretum. The shiny deep copper-bronze bark that peels in elegant curls is simply amazing to see. This small to medium sized tree lilac puts on a nice show of huge fragrant white flower clusters in late spring (June) and can sometimes sporadically re-bloom later in summer. Fall color is usually yellow. When coupled with good drought tolerance, this makes an excellent alternative to flowering cherries which have similar bark. Below is a close up image of the bark on one of our China Snow lilacs at Boone County Arboretum.
Fox Valley River Birch (Betula nigra) 'Little King'- . --- Of course any good gardener knows that birches have long been considered the kings of colorful bark as a genus. Unfortunately many species can be a bit finicky in our Ohio Valley climate, or they grow too large for the average home landscape. Well, problem solved by Fox Valley River Birch (also know as Little King). This slower growing, and very compact version of River Birch is a much better choice for smaller landscapes, or where a less imposing specimen is needed. The tree pictured below is only about 10-12 ft tall and wide after about 12-15 years of growth here at the arboretum. We think 15-20 ft tall and wide might be a good eventual size for the plant. You can see the difference in this selection compared to Heritage river birch in the left background of the picture of the whole plant at the Arboretum.
Happy New Gardening Year!
I hope that all of us had a wonderful holiday season this year, and that your first day of the new year was excellent. With the mild weather of late many of you may have been able to get some gardening chores taken care of that you ran out of time to do back in the fall. Its not often that we get to say that in late December or January that's for sure! While we haven't had record breaking warmth, it seems that a day or two in the 50's or 60's has fooled a few plants so far.
In my garden I have a hybrid hellebore (Lenten Rose) that is now in full bloom (in the photos below), and my King Alfred daffodils have about an inch or so of foliage sticking up already. The odd looking green stuff amognst the emerging daffodil foliage is my cold hardy prickly pear cactus. It deflates during cold weather and waits untill the warmth of spring to fill up its pads with water once again, it has certainly not been fooled by the weather yet!
I am also hearing reports of the following other plants blooming in the region: Hamamelis vernalis (Vernal Witchhazel), Mahonia bealei (Oregon Grape Holly), Spiraea thunbergii (Thunberg Spirea) Chaenomeles speciosa 'Texas Scarlet' (Flowering Quince), Forsythia, Prunus mume (Japanese Apricot), and Viburnum farreri (Fragrant Viburnum). What a list for early January!!! Not to worry, pretty much all of these species are early bloomers by nature, and thus are probably the easiest to be coaxed into early bloom. Thus, they are usually not bothered by extreme cold, and will usually resume a normal flowering schedule closer to when they normally bloom. As for any spring flowering bulb that has foliage emerging, they should be fine too. The flower buds are well below ground still, and safe from frigid temps that are guaranteed to eventually arrive as we go into the heart of winter.
