Camellia (inherited)
What a difference a day makes. Wednesday, when the majority of these shots were taken, it was wet and breezy with the occasional weak ray of sunshine. Twenty or so hours later we woke up to a dusting of snow with temperatures due to fall below zero over the next few nights. It’s our first real taste of winter. Brrrr.
There has been much rummaging about for fleeces. Plant covers pulled free of the cobwebs in the shed.. a few extra layers from the darker recesses of the wardrobe for the gardener too. It’s a shame I can’t extend the treatment to every opportunistic green shoot that has recently popped up out of the waterlogged soil. They will get a shock now when it all freezes.
![Camellia 010 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Camellia-010-Wm1.jpg?resize=533%2C800&ssl=1)
The camellia has been in bloom for almost a month already and there are still plenty of buds to come. The frost should spare those that have yet to open. Last year, for the first time ever, I had success with cuttings. There are a dozen of them currently living it up in the greenhouse, rooted by means of the new propagator. Standing at all of two inches tall apiece it’ll be a while before I can use them to screen the outhouse, but what a welcome sight a few years down the line.
![Erica 007 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Erica-007-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Erica (inherited)
Underneath the camellia, an expanding clump of winter heather. The flowers start off white and then fade through lilac to pink.
![Narcissus bulbocodium var. citrinus 002 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Narcissus-bulbocodium-var.-citrinus-002-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Narcissus bulbocodium var. citrinus
Just caught this one in time.. the wind and rain have taken their toll. It can be a hard life for bulbs chez rusty duck and not only on account of the weather.
![Galanthus 'Jacquenetta' 003 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Galanthus-Jacquenetta-003-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
When it comes to ‘special’ snowdrops, no effort can be spared
Especially when there’s just the one bloom. The bulb is encased entirely in wire, above and below ground. There are the mice. There is He Who Pecks. And would you believe it…
![Galanthus 'Jacquenetta' 004 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Galanthus-Jacquenetta-004-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C696&ssl=1)
Galanthus ‘Jacquenetta’
…some little blighter has still managed a nibble! I’m blaming the slugs. No fleeces for them.
![Skimmia japonica 007 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Skimmia-japonica-007-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Skimmia japonica
Buds rather than blooms, but I prefer it at this stage. The deep maroon of the developing flower heads provide a welcome splash of colour for January. Bright red berries too. More on the ground than on the bush. He Who Pecks or He Of The Bushy Tail?
![Hellebore 026 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hellebore-026-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
We’ve been here long enough now to have one or two established clumps of hellebores.
This one was a refugee from my previous garden and it’s been moved at least twice since then, as is the way. I do think perennials benefit from an opportunity to stretch their legs, don’t you? A bit like us all needing more exercise, right? And maybe they welcome an occasional change to their view. As long as it’s not seen as indecisiveness on the part of the gardener because that would never do.
![Hellebore 025 Wm[1]](https://i2.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hellebore-025-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Another hellebore repatriation, the moniker long since lost to the mists of time.
![Helleborus 'Penny's Pink' 004 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Helleborus-Pennys-Pink-004-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Soon..
Helleborus ‘Penny’s Pink’
![Hamamellis x intermedia 'Robert' 006 Wm[1]](https://i1.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hamamellis-x-intermedia-Robert-006-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C666&ssl=1)
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Robert’
But in January it’s the witch hazels that really steal my heart. I’ve never been able to pick up the scent, but the sight of those hot colours is more than enough.
![Hamamellis x intermedia 'Primavera' 001 Wm[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.rustyduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hamamellis-x-intermedia-Primavera-001-Wm1.jpg?resize=1000%2C695&ssl=1)
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Primavera’
This year there’s a new addition. It has petals of purest lemon zest and was acquired for me by fellow blogger Gill at Off The Edge Gardening – for a mere fiver. You won’t regret checking out her blog, she has a wicked way with words. Not to mention an uncanny ability to sniff out a bargain at several miles distant. Thank you Gill.
Linking to Carol and Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens, where you will find many other January bloomers from around the world.
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Winter blooming plants are so special!
Love the Camellia!
They certainly are. Thanks Lea.
You’ve actually had a sprinkling of snow – wow! So far it has just been wet here, with no sign of the white stuff! Today though is beautifully sunny, must go and see what the woodland has to offer today. Your camellia hedge will be amazing when it grows and flowers for a good few months during the winter.
After all the weather forecasts in negative territory they now seem to be saying it’s going to get warmer again! Wish they’d make up their minds.
The Camellia is very special, all those blooms at once and being going on for a month, brilliant. Clever you to manage to strike cuttings, they are notoriously difficult. Love the Hellebores.
I’m so pleased with the cuttings, never succeeded before. The propagator mist sprays the roots, which they seem to have responded to well. Loads of other stuff out of it too. I reckoned it was worth the investment with so much bare earth to cover.
Gorgeous collection and so useful to see what’s looking good at this time of year-might have to find a space for Hamamellis. I agree with you about skimmias looking best at this stage. That Hellebore ‘Peony Pink’ will be an absolute treat over the next few weeks.
Witch hazels never grow really huge do they, I’m hoping not because I’ve got a couple quite close to the house.. in a vain attempt to harness the scent! They seem to be enjoying the sheltered position though.
Lovely hellebores – I am gradually beginning to like these flowers as they are shown off on everyone’s blog. Yours look like they are viewed from below – I guess that shows them off to their best. Hmmm – I wonder if I have any flowers I could photograph in the garden this month?
By the way, happy to take your recommendation for a new blog to follow and have popped over to Gill’s blog – thanks.
The one advantage of gardening on a hill is that most plants can be viewed from below! But I’ve put quite a few of the hellebores on top of walls and such like, so I can look up into the blooms without too much trouble.
The camellia is to die for!
It’s a surprising colour for mid winter. Far too exotic!
There’s so much going on in your garden Jessica ……. everything in ours is always at least a month behind everyone else’s as it’s north facing !! Our hellibores flower so late that they last well into June !!
I think that this year our garden has looked the best ever in January …. the grass is amazingly green, the vibernum has been dripping in white and lots of leaves seem to have stayed so green. You have so much winter colour …… all beautiful. XXXX
The plants do seem to have benefitted from the warm autumn. The lawn is growing like topsy but it’s too boggy to get out on it to give it a mow.
Beautiful! You might capture a whiff of the witch hazel if you clip a small bit and bring it inside. Iris unguicularis offers a perfume silimar to violets on my desk, but I can’t smell it at all outdoors.
That’s a good idea. I might wait until the witch hazels get a bit bigger, but it will be a treat to look forward to in the future.
Thanks for the glimpse of your early spring shoots – here in NB Canada we had 30 cms two days ago and another nor’easter coming in tomorrow! We have a high of -16 today – and are a long way from spring.
Hi Linda and welcome.
That is seriously cold. I will stop complaining! It’s been so warm here over autumn the plants have got confused and started growing as if it were Spring. They’ll all get clobbered if we get a serious frost now.
Lovely to see your hellebores, an old favourite, and how lucky you are to have witch hazel too. But it’s that ageing narcissus that has stolen my heart.
It’s beautiful isn’t it. A new addition last year so still with some bulking up to do, but there’s one more flower bud at least. Now that I’ve seen it return I’ll get more bulbs in quantity.
No snow here yet, but the sky is looking very threatening! Lovely pictures, I especially like the hellebore bud, beautiful. Thanks for the mention x
We’ve had some serious hail too. Not funny when you are tending the plants in the greenhouse at the time.
You’re very welcome.
Hi Jessica, what a bummer with the cold weather suddenly setting in in your neck of the woods! Hope it does only very little damage to your plants.
I love the single camellia! Such a gorgeous bloom.
Gosh, the extend of work you went through to protect your snowdrops is really amazing to me, but we go a long way for the things that we love, don”t we? Still I am asking myself for how many plants did you make an effort like this…
Christina
Not many plants! Apart from anything else it doesn’t look very pretty. All my bulbs now go into the ground inside wire mesh cages, but I only protect the most vulnerable shoots when they pop up above the soil. The pheasant walks along the path alongside where they are and nips the tops off any flower that he sees.
Love that camellia and the hellebores. Your garden, as it does every month, looks wonderful.
Thanks Dorothy. The garden gets a little bit better each year but it does seem to be very slow progress.
You had snow? None here in our part of ‘up north’ I planted some Narcissus bulbocodium in autumn but no sign of them yet,
Serious snow a few miles away. The shopping delivery was delayed because of it.
The embroidery project for this term’s sewing class is ‘The Hedgerow.’ I shall, if I may be so bold, take inspiration from some of you photos. Is that okay? #copyright#suemeintoastateofpenury
You are very welcome Denise. I shall look forward to seeing the results. (Ptolemy has asked if next term’s project might be birds. He thinks of himself as an A-lister now he’s starred in a pantomime.)
Oooh don’t, don’t don’t show me images of the wonderful hellebores…I’ll just have to go out and buy them…I was tempted at the garden centre but resisted, now I feel my resistance wavering!
Wonderful images from your beautiful garden….can I come and live in it please 🙂
As long as you bring your wellies and a spade 🙂
Absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous.
Thanks Denise. Twas the mild weather that did it methinks.
I love the witch hazels, which sadly don’t grow here. My own garden is also plagued by bushy-tailed felons, which are now gobbling up the Gazanias at first sight, despite a plentiful supply of stolen bird seed.
They go after the camellia blooms here. Especially when they see me watching them out of the kitchen window. It’s becoming a them or me situation. I am bigger. I’m not sure who is the wiser.
Beautiful flowers! I’m so in love with witch hazel. I used to have a red one in my old garden and am on the hunt for a few to put in the woodland edge. I’ve heard that it’s only the true forms that have a noticeable scent, and I believe the intermedia’ are hybrids, so they have a slightly more subtle scent that is harder to detect. I may of course be speaking utter rubbish! x
Now that you come to mention it I do remember reading exactly the same thing. I suppose the ideal is to get a few of each so you have the scent of the species and the more exotic colours of the hybrids.
The Narcissus bulbocodium var. citrons is a beauty Jessica, I must add it to my wish list.
It is. And it’s returned reliably which isn’t always the case with bulbs here. I believe Narcissus are poisonous, which helps my cause.
I don’t have a witch-hazel, but I’ve planted all the others that you showed in your photos to try to give some winter color to my garden. I have a lot of plants ready to break bud, I’m really nervous about a cold snap that includes some freezes.
It’s a real problem. I can’t wrap the whole garden in fleece, however much I would like to.
You asked on my blog if my witch hazel was scented, yes! I, like you, could never detect scent – even when others were gushing about how lovely they smelled. Then one day, walking through a nursery, I smelled it. So beautiful! I knew I had to buy it!
It’s now on my list… I would love to have one with a gorgeous scent. Thanks Loree!
Beautiful bloomers as always! I hope that all the plants will be alright! xx
If we don’t have too many nights with a frost and the temps don’t go too low we should be OK. It’s looking good for the moment. Thanks Amy.
What a lovely bunch of blooms – certainly hope they take the weather in stride! Jacquenetta looks like a charmer even with the nibble spot… 😉 And I really fell for your Anonymous of the Speckles hellebore…
Jacquenetta is lovely. I’d like more ‘specials’ but I feared this would happen if they went into the ground. I shall have to wait until I have more greenhouse room.
Speckled hellebore…love at first sight! No more outdoor blooms for us here in upstate New York. Enjoyed yours so much! I love camillas.
We may yet get snow. The forecasters have been threatening it for months. But then they so often get it completely wrong!
I must try to find some witch-hazel it looks lovely and even though we are in blazing summer at the moment, we have quite a severe winter and it is lovely to see colour (and fragrance!) in the garden in winter.
They’re a bit boring over Spring and Summer but redeem themselves again in autumn with beautifully coloured leaves. It’s a good small tree to have.
You keep me going through the winter!
I am trying to kid myself Spring is already here.
How super to see your early blooms, even if they are in danger from the cold spell. We have a couple of hellebores in flower but I must venture out and see what else is trying to flower too early.
There were even miniature rose buds opening a week ago, but just a light frost has scuppered them.
Lovely to see so many beautiful blooms, especially the witch hazels. I need to work on adding winter flowering plants to this garden. I found a rather sorry looking hellebore but that’s about it. Lots of inspiration here 🙂
I shall add more winter flowering plants, they do get me through the grey days. As soon as the snowdrops start to bloom if feels like the new season is just around the corner.
A nibbled snowdrop is better than no snowdrop at all after all that effort! x
You’re right. Imagine what would have happened without the wire!
I always like visiting your blog in the depths of our winter. Gives me hope for spring!
I don’t know how you cope with all that snow. At least you have plenty to keep you busy!
Your hellebores and witch hazels are gorgeous.
Thanks Vicki and welcome! The hellebores look like something that should be blooming in a much warmer season. I can’t get enough of them.
A caged snowdrop?! I wish I had caged my yellow Crocus, they have been well and truly nibbled. There is so much in flower – your soil is clearly very different from mine and it is lovely to see such wonderful photos of the plants I cannot grow.
The snowdrop isn’t displayed to its best advantage is it. Perhaps I should wire the pheasant’s beak shut instead.
Lovely hellebores and witch hazels. I’m afraid I just felt a bit sorry for your little ‘Jaquenetta’. Hopefully it will gain it’s freedom when it’s older. To echo Sarah above – wish I could grow camellias and ericas in the ground like you! But actually, on second thoughts, the winter-flowering ericas don’t need such acid soil, do they?
I would need to look up which one it is, but there is definitely a species of heather which thrives quite happily in neutral soil. I was delighted to discover the soil is acid, it’s the first time I’ve been able to grow these plants in the ground. It’s only the case in the woodland though, in the main garden the hydrangeas are lipstick pink.
HI Jessica!
How lucky to have such beautiful blooms in January!
Have a great weekend…
Cheers!
Linda :o)
They are few and far between but very welcome nonetheless.
You too Linda. Keep warm!
That was a welcome trip round your garden, as ours is buried under snow again!
I’ve just read a weather report that says it’s headed south!
Your winter garden is splendid – extra-intense pleasure. One sad little primula here which has been flowering, one flower at a time, since August!
Wait till your birches have their lovely white bark, that will be splendid!
‘Jacquenetta’ is a beautiful little ‘drop Jessica. It’s a bad year/good year depending from which point of view you are reading this for snowdrops and slugs 🙁 A witch hazel for a fiver!!! Now that’s what I call a bargain.
An incredible bargain. It’s a nice shape too. The slugs are a real problem this year. They’ve also nobbled all the flowers on a new hellebore bought from Rosemoor.
That is a fabulous camellia and I love the witch hazels – none here yet. It’s sad when you have to net the snowdrops isn’t it? I have to do the same with several plants – rabbits are the problem here. Your close-up photos are excellent – do you use a macro lens?
I’d love a macro lens, but for the moment we just try to get very sharp images using a tripod, as zoomed in as possible, then crop them.
Gorgeous. I need a rest day today (we have heating and lighting at the cottage) so I thought I could just about manage the 5 minute trip to Wisley to sniff the hundreds of new witch hazels which line the new winter walk. Ominously I have seen a pheasant strutting in the cottage garden.
Oh to be five minutes from Wisley.. although it would cost me a fortune!
The appearance of a pheasant is a worrying development. Anything that stands out like a jewel, especially at this time of year with little in bloom, will be vulnerable. That’s why I caged the single snowdrop. Of course, he will need a name..
I think a lot of plants will go into shock now the cols weather has kicked in. Nice to see your blooms, especially the witch-hazel’s and hellebores, how I love hellebores!xxx
Me too. I’ve got some with flower buds sown from seed a couple of years back.. it’s going to be exciting waiting to see what colour they turn out to be.
I love that dear little Narcissus and what an amazing Camellia. Dont you think the hellebores are particularly good this year? And with wonderful witch hazel like yours in bloom, the garden is a wonderful place to be. If only it wasn’ t so cold.
Really cold last night.. we awoke to a winter wonderland, or as much of one as you can get with frost. The hellebores would do a lot better if the slugs left them alone. Hopefully a taste of winter will slow those wretched molluscs down a bit!
A lovely splash of colour for the winter months 🙂
Thanks Cherie. It’s all looking a bit sorry for itself after last night’s cold blast!
Beautiful blooms…I love the cage for those special blooms….those darn slugs just get in to everything.
They do. Slug damage is especially bad this year. They have been thriving in the damp, mild winter. After 36 hours of cold we’re due to get back to double figures again, even at night!
I’m already imagining that hedge of camellia! What a pleasure that will be and nice to see your winter flowering plantings starting to grow up and put on a show. It’s really starting to come together there 🙂
I think that is the most satisfying part of gardening, watching things grow and the tapestry start to weave itself together. Every year it gets a little better.
Your plants look lovely and encouraging me to go and visit a garden centre and spend some money! Thank you for the encouraging words of not working! Sarah x
I’m sure you will enjoy having the freedom that comes with organising your own time. It’s very easy to take on too much though, leave yourself plenty of time to relax. Says she.. ho ho ho.
Al those blooms, promises of Spring!
Oh, I can’t wait for Spring. Especially sitting here with my feet slowly turning to blocks of ice..
Dear Jessica – no snow in your garden either – I think that we must both be living along the same snow-free corridor – long may it continue.
What a joyous splash of bright pink from your camellia along with all of the spring bulbs that are opening out so early this year.
The bulbs must have had a bit of a shock this morning.. only down to -5 but it looked like Siberia out there for a while. Proper hoar frost.
I love the witch hazel, that’s something I’d definitely have in my garden if I had the room. Perhaps your special snowdrop would be safer in a pot in the greenhouse, you’d get to see it better at eye level too.
I was thinking along the same lines Jo, keep the special ones in pots until they have bulked up a bit and then put ‘spare’ bulbs outside in the garden. That way I’ll always have at least some of them looking good.
I have tried taking camellia cuttings before but was never successful, is your new propagator heated with a thermostat? What setting did you use if so? I got a heated propagator but it has no thermostat so it just heats a few degrees above ambient. Useless really, didn’t really know what I was buying!
Lovely to see all your flowers, I hope most of them survived the week. Back to mild weather again now. Let’s hope this was winter done with for us all.
The propagator was a bit of a splurge last year, it’s specially designed for cuttings and has a water reservoir at the bottom with a pump that continually mist sprays heated water around the ends of the cuttings. My rationale was that it will pay for itself many times over the years, giving me the ability to quickly propagate the plants that I buy and fill up some of the huge expanses of soil. Planting the whole space with garden centre plants would be totally unaffordable for me. If the camellia cuttings all thrive the propagator will have paid for itself already. Link is here
Oooh, I like!
A bit expensive for me right now, but I would very much like to swap the one I have for this one 🙂
I probably got about 50 new plants out of it last year alone.. lonicera nitida for hedging, gaura, penstemon, callistemon, hydrangea, maybe even a magnolia in addition to the camellia cuttings. The problem is that they are still very tiny and it will take many years to get them to garden centre size, especially the shrubs. But you’ve got to start somewhere.. !