15 Jan 2013

What’s in bloom in January?

by | posted in: Gardening | 38
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Today’s the day when I sing the praises of the Old Faithfuls that bloom in January.Tough and resilient are their middle names.

They are the stalwarts that keep the nectar larder stocked up over the winter months. They are also the reliable plants. The ones that can bring a little bit of life back into a border and give some winter interest on a cold and dull January day.

Last month I focused on showing you some of the winter interest plants with with ornamental stems in the post –  This Garden is Not Asleep while today it’s all about the flowers!

What’s in bloom in January in my garden today?

Certainly not as much as in January 2012 as back then it had been unseasonably warm and I had Iris reticulata in flower! From an 8 foot tall canopy are bare branches festooned with colourful coppery reddish orange ribbons.  Each year the unscented Witch hazel Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’  just gets better and better with its frost resistant flowers.

 

what's in bloom in January, Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' - witch hazel Scottish Hardiness rating - H5
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’
lenten rose in pink
Helleborus x hybridus – Lenten rose
this is an image of Hamamelis × intermedia 'Diane' - red flowers in bloom in January
What’s in bloom in January – Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Diane’
in bloom in January - winter flowering cyclamen coum pink flowers in the snow
what’s in bloom in January ?Cyclamen coum
While at ground level clusters of nodding cup shaped dark pink Lenten roses Helleborus x hybridus arise.  They are so excited that Spring is almost here that as soon as a bud reaches ground level it just can’t wait to start unfurling its plump purplish pink flower buds.  It’s such an easy and undemanding plant for any garden!



A much smaller and slower growing scented witch hazel ‘Diane’ unwraps its red ruby ribbons.  It’s still not a bobby dazzler ……………….but in time it will become a great focal point of winter interest in the garden.

 

While in among the stones in the scree border are the lowly stems of the late winter flowering pink Cyclamen coum.

 


Follow Rosie Nixon:

Photography Tutor and Gardener

Rosie is a garden photographer, writer and nature lover. She enjoys soaking up nature and is easily distracted from doing the weeding by anything that flutters, flies, buzzes, creeps or crawls! She enjoys sharing the beauty of creation through her photography. Rosie has been featured on TV on BBC2's The Beechgrove Garden and she uses the outdoors as her natural light studio. Her work can be seen at one of Scotland's only photography galleries - Close Gallery, 4b Howe Street, Edinburgh.

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38 Responses

  1. Bernie H
    |

    Your old reliables are just lovely. Love the interactive discovery tour. That was a real treat.

    Over in my part of the world, it's dry and hot. The dry season is still rolling on, and the summer is sweltering. Thankfully, there are old reliables in my garden as well to cheer me up a little.

  2. Linda Claxson
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    Not much blooming in my garden I'm afraid, the wind ripped through pretty much everything except for that old stalwart – the hebe. That 10 year old hebe is still as full of leaf as it was in the summer and is just coming to the end of yet another flowering period.
    The rest of the gardens just looks like mush at the moment as it's too wet to get out there 🙁
    I'm loving those witch hazels though Rosie, I think I may have to look into getting some of those for the sheltered areas of the garden.
    Thank you for sharing

    Linda

  3. Mark and Gaz
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    Our Celmisia, with its daisy like flowers is surprisingly blooming at the moment 🙂 A nice bonus! Lovely pics as always!

  4. Marian S
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    Jelena is one of my favorites. Anything that blooms in January gets bonus points, don't you think?

  5. Gerry Snape
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    Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' – witch hazel…that is so gorgeous…I want one and so I'll have a dander at the local nursery….thankyou Rosie!

  7. Rosie Nixon
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    @Linda Claxson I'm surprised Linda that it's a hebe as they struggle sometimes in my garden. It must be because you're nearer the coast that it survives.

    Witchhazels are worth the money though they are always that little bit more expensive because they are grafted.

  8. Rosie Nixon
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    @Mark and Gaz My neighbour had a Celmisia for years and our dreadful winter a few years ago finally killed it. This year I plan to get some as they have been on my wanted list for years.

  9. Rosie Nixon
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    @Marian S Any colour at all Marian is so welcome and makes such a change to the beiges. My only regret is that I didn't plant mine closer to my kitchen window.

  15. Anna
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    So slowly but surely there are encouraging signs of spring Rosie. It looks as if like us you have had rain falling from the sky rather than snow. In complete agreement with you about the undemanding nature of hellebores 🙂 Great to see your interactive images. I must do more reading up on the subject.

  16. Kris Peterson
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    The interactive image feature is fantastic. I love the Hellebore – I wish I could get them to bloom for me reliably in Southern California but I'm beginning to believe that's a lost cause…

  17. Landscape Design By Lee
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    I love your witch hazel and cyclamen. They are a nice addition to the winter garden. I have tried cyclamen and it came up for a number of years then vanished and I would like to find a place for some witch hazel-nice blooms and Happy GBBD!

  19. Kalantikan
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    Hello Rosie, i miss you, hehe! You know i don't come here if the discussion gets technical for my small mind capacity! But i posted a few warm colors before dedicated for my friends in the temperate climes. Your photos seem to be still a little hibernating, but they are already beautiful. I can't wait for the snowdrops, my favorite from your part of the world. Keep warm Rosie.

  20. Ruth @ Camellia Rose
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    Beautiful photos. I especially love the cyclamen and the red witch hazel is stunning! It's summer in my garden and the dahlias are blooming. I'm excited this month about a hydrangea I just bought. Happy bloom day!

  21. Rosie Nixon
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    @Anna

    Our snow didn't come to much – we just have about 1 cm over the grass this morning. Glad you enjoyed the interactive images. It takes a little bit more time but atleast the photographs are attributed to your blog no matter how they are shared or cropped in the future. I probably won't use as many tags again but wanted to use this post as another example of what a blogger can do as long as they know how to work with html coding

  22. Rosie Nixon
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    @Kris Peterson

    Thanks Kris for mentioning the interactive discovery images – they are quite new to the online world and it's free to set up an account to get started on your own blog. Just contact me if you want further info. There are so many flowers I would love to grow too.

  27. John
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    Thanks for sharing from Perthshire. I see you've neatly trimmed off the old Helleborus leaves. Need to get about that job during our next warm spell. Nice to see the picture of Diane too. I've only had mine for a couple of years and I'm looking forward to seeing what it does for me this year.

  28. Rosie Nixon
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    @John

    You observed well John 🙂 when I saw the photographs I thought to myself that I could have done a better job in cutting the stems to just below ground level. Diane has been a slow shrub to give results for me – that's probably why it is so expensive to buy as a more mature shrub.

  29. Melanie J Watts
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    Such lovely photos. Of course there is nothing blooming in my garden. In fact my garden has disappeared beneath 4 feet of snow. IT will be My before I see it again 🙂

  30. Alistair
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    Hi Rosie, only Hamamelis blooming here and a few buds on the Hellebore. Your interactive images are fabulous, how clever is that.

  31. elaine
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    I have just found your blog over at Anna's Green Tapestry, your pictures are beautifully shot and the hellebores made my mouth water, mine are covered with a few inches of snow at the moment, hope they are surviving under there.

  37. Angie
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    I've absolutely nothing in bloom! Tried and lost Witch Hazel twice in my old garden. Your pictures have convinced me to try again! Beautiful!