What a strange winter we are having this year! Warm and wet, then colder and dry. Mother Nature can’t seem to make up her mind. Personally, I’ve been waiting all winter for a nice snow storm. Even while we were in Vermont over Christmas and New Year’s, there were just a few snow showers – although happily, we did wake up to a dusting of snow on Christmas morning! It’s frustrating to me that, whenever precipitation is in the forecast, the temperatures are usually on the rise. I’m sure many other people are overjoyed about this though!
Rain drops bead up on a partly open Helleborus niger blossom
The warm winter weather has had a noticeable effect in the garden. My Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) lived up to its name this year. It was beginning to bloom in my garden by December 20th – the earliest I ever remember it coming into bloom. Last year they didn’t begin to bloom until early February! The warmer winter has no doubt contributed to the early appearance of these attractive flowers. Now it’s in full bloom – so beautiful.
One of my other hellebores, Helleborus foetidus, has been blooming since early December and it is still going strong. What a wonderful addition to the winter garden.
Helleborus foetidus has been blooming since early December. Clumps of Helleborus niger are visible in the distance.
Helleborus foetidus reliably blooms by at least January in my gardens. The beautiful evergreen foliage and interesting chartreuse blooms are very eye-catching against the brown backdrop of the fallen oak leaves.
I found another surprise today when I went out to take some pictures of my hellebores – a single budding snowdrop (Galanthus)! I love these early blooming bulbs. We had several clusters planted right beside our front sidewalk in New Jersey when I was growing up. They often poked up through the snow in February bringing the promise of spring. We just planted some for my mom in Vermont when we visited over Thanksgiving.
Here’s hoping she’ll have some cheery snowdrop blooms to enjoy this spring!
It's distressing to see the daffodil flower buds up already!
A bit more distressing is the appearance of daffodils poking up through the leaves in our front flower beds. Unfortunately, it’s not just the foliage that has popped up but the flower stems with buds as well. I’m afraid this doesn’t bode well for my daffodil bloom for this spring. If just the foliage had come up, I wouldn’t worry as much but I’m not sure the flower buds can withstand a deep freeze – that is if we ever get one. These beds are fairly protected being right up close to the house but still …
On a walk through Andre’s gardens this afternoon, I noticed that many of his hellebores are blooming, too.
Beautiful Helleborus orientalis flowers have popped up through a layer of oak leaves.
I also noticed that quite a few of his daffodils have popped up but I didn’t see any flower stems, just foliage. These gardens are more exposed than our front bed and I’m sure that has something to do with it, although it may also be a varietal difference. Hopefully when I check my gardens that are less protected, I’ll find that just the leaves have come up and no flower stems. The foliage can generally take the cold especially if it is covered with some pine boughs.
Will we have an early spring? Maybe – time will tell – but up and down the east coast, we’re still waiting for winter to happen!
I won’t hold my breath though; the long range forecast for our area doesn’t look much different than what we’ve been experiencing so far – highs in the 50′s almost everyday through the first week in February! Bummer – I’m ready for snow!
Until next time – Happy Gardening!
