Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. 15 December 2013

This  post is linked to the Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day on maydreamsgardens. It is an invitation to show what you have in bloom at this challenging time of the year.  So do join in.

We have been relatively lucky here in Suffolk with just a few light frosts. There are still a few brave stalwarts hanging on from summer.

This is a wonderful little Erigeron which is always covered in flowers. As long as you dead head it, it keeps on flowering and it is not unusual to have it in bloom in December.

Erigeron ‘Wayne Roberts

Anemone x hybrida ‘Adelaide Atkinson’

I am surprised that this lovely Anemone is still in bloom, it is a bit like the reliable ‘Honerine Jobert’, but I think it is much better and it just keeps on flowering.

Salvia microphylla var neurepia

I don’t know how this little Salvia has managed to keep going because all the other Salvias are looking very bedraggled. It is in a very sheltered spot though.

Eordium manescani

I love this Erodium. it is larger than many of its tribe and looks rather like a geranium. It flowers all summer long and as you see hasn’t given up yet. It self-seeds generously, but that is all right, there are always plenty of gardening friends who are delighted to take the babies.

Kniphofia rooperi

This Kniphofia goes on and on and  into the winter with its bright orange beacon lighting up a corner of the garden It provides a welcome splash of colour.  An Iris foetidissima has placed itself fortuitously close by and its orange seeds are a perfect match.

Chrysanthemum ‘Chelsea Physic’

With the Chrysanthemums we get into autumn bloomers but this one ‘Chelsea Physic Garden’ is still rather late; I have never had it in flower in December before. The photograph doesn’t do it justice, each bronze flower looks as if it has been dusted with gold. It is gorgeous.

Chrysanthemum ‘Mei-Kyo’

This lovely Chrysanthemum is still going strong even though the ‘Emperor of China’ which is supposed to be late-flowering is long gone. I love its delicate shade. I hope Chrysanthemums are making a bit of a come-back, they have been out in the cold for too long.

hesperantha coccinea ‘Fenland Daybreak’

I can hear people saying that’s a Schizostylis isn’t it? Yes it is, but we have to call it Hesperantha now.  Do keep up. It’s so unfair though , just when you’d learnt how to spell ‘Schizostylis’ This one, ‘Fenland Daybreak’ is a lovely one.

Nerine bowdenii ‘Stephanie’

Is it cheating to have included this delicate Nerine which is in the cold greenhouse? It is hardy and could grow happily outside but I think the flowers would have collapsed by now outside.

Mahonia x media ‘Lionel Fortescue’

This Mahonia is a must for this time of the year. It hasn’t got the lovely perfume of Mahonia japonica but it is a cheering sight on a gloomy December day.

Viburnum bodantense

Every garden should have a Viburnum bodantense because it flowers all winter and is great for picking.

Helleborus niger

This Christmas rose is actually going to be in flower for Christmas which is unusual. I can’t take credit for its pristine appearance though, this is one of the plants I bought a couple of weeks ago for my new bed.

Galanthus elwesii ‘Barnes’

Every year you see readers’ letters to the newspapers saying  that they have seen snowdrops out very early and is this a result of global warming? Well, as every galanthophile knows this snowdrop flowers in November so this flower is late if anything. I have a clump elsewhere which is almost over. Anyway whatever the season it is gorgeous.

Primrose

The joy of these little  spring darlings is that they sometimes flower so early. I do prefer flowers which are harbingers of spring rather than hangers on from last summer.

Helleborus

And this is a reminder for Hellebore bores and I am one of them that the season is nearly upon us.  How ever many you have (and they seed so generously you probably have lots) you never, ever have enough.