It's been a bit warmer here in British Columbia this winter (okay, a record year for high temperatures). The snowdrops have lots of company in our garden at this time. Not even the recent windstorm could dampen their spirits. I must say, after the one and a half months of almost continuous days of rain, the sight of these beauties was just what I needed to lift my spirit!
I've had flowers all winter. Two more showy ones to come on recently are Prunus mume 'Matsubara Red' and a rhododendron acquired as R. davidsonianum 'Ruth Lyon' whose identification I tend to suspect.
It has been nice weather after all that rain. Things are blooming very early this year. My favorite right now are the snow crocus when they open wide in the sun. I also have Cyclamen coum, primroses and Helleborous blooming in that same bed.
Weekend Gardener - did you get on your belly for that shot of the snowdrops? I just did a similar one a few hours ago here at UBCBG, but haven't seen what it looks like on the PC yet...
Speaking for myself, I'd rather not see a shot of your belly on my PC. Of course, if it is flat enough for you to get pictures of snowdrops, maybe it's not so bad to look at. Here on Camano we have Daphne mezereum 'Alba' Erica carnea Galanthus Hamamelis x intermedia Helleborus x hybridus Jasminum nudiflorum Mahonia japonica 'Hivernant' Prunus x subhirtella 'Autumnalis Rosea' Prunus x subhirtella 'Whitcomb' Ribes sanguineum Sarcococca hookeriana digyna Viburnum tinus and others in bloom.
Daniel, I have an old Canon G2. It's rotating flip LCD screen is what allows me to take those close to the ground pictures without having to push my nose into the manure! I pop it on a tripod, set it to a timer for shots that are way up high - very useful indeed. Here are some that's not quite open yet, but are showing promise. My only worry is that it will be -6 Celcius tomorrow night! Euphorbia characias Helleborus argutifolius Clematis armandii Skimmia japonica
Isn't it early for Ribes sanguineum? Mine is at least a month away from blooming but it is in a partly shaded, cool location. The Tete a Tete daffodils and the Forsythia are starting to bloom too, and I see Candytuft starting to bloom all around.
We also have Ribe sanguineum about to bloom, showing color in its buds- it is a seedling that is consistantly earlier than all our others. Another plant just coming into bloom that is a bit early this year is our Sisrynchium douglasii, or grass widows. Hopefully the predicted cold weather at the end of the week is not too severe.
The first flowers of Ribes sanguineum 'White Icicle' were blooming in a fairly protected area on Feb. 6 here at UBC. Those cameras with the flip LCDs are great. Today's Galanthus pic was taken with an SLR, and my neck is still hurting (since I don't have a tripod that I can use to suspend the camera close to the ground, I had to use my "beanbag tripod"
I drove by a planted Ribes sanguineum in nearly full color in an exposed position on Camano Island yesterday. Last week I saw the first flowers on a wild seedling in a low, cold, shaded position in a thicket beside a pond here on the property. The white form planted up here by the house is partly in bloom. I also drove by a Camano Island property with both typical greenleaf and purpleleaf Prunus cerasifera in boom; right up the road, on the same slope were some additional cherry plums not yet out.
Heard from David Tarrant that some of the magnolia buds in the garden are flushed with pink. Seems like we'll be losing a lot of them with the frosts expected this week.
Our Ribes sanguineum is no where near flowering yet. It is in a shaded area and I have noticed that it flowers a full 2-3 weeks later than other specimens getting more sun. But my neighbour's Magnolia stellata is loaded with buds, ready to burst forth.
Re: In bud or bloom this week My plants in bud (!) or bloom (*) right now include -'Red Ruffles' azalea* - 'Doran Black' aloe and two regular aloes* - Variegated flax lily* - African violets* - Cyclamen* - Yellow/orange 'Wonderland' poppies* - Oleander! - Pink jasmine vine! Also, my string-of-pearls has been blooming for the past month or two and I thought it would be a nice series to show the flowers at their different stages (sort of a "pearls necklace"! ^-^).
I'm in zone 6... :-( The snowdrops are up, though. Last night we had temps in the mid-teens (°F). This was after our 20 inches of snow melted in beautifully sunny 50° days. The leaves of my muscari look damaged, and frost heaves as I've never seen before have torn sprouting columbines to shreads. Zone 8 gardening... it must be a dream!!!
The currently cold night time temperatures have put an abrupt halt to my Passiflora c. however there are a few left just about to burst open....or fall off? And of course we have our gardeners' favourite, Taraxacum...in a sunny sheltered site...
OH, I just saw a flowering spike from my Zantedeschia...it is in a pot up against the house...does this count?
-6 C lst night, and a drying wind to boot two nights ago. Now, a lot of plants with greenery on them are looking a bit shrivelled and thirsty, including the hellebores. The snow drops marches on, so do the sweet box, C armandii and skimmia on, though. Did I ever get lured into a false sense of security. The rest of the troop have been stopped short in their tracks! K Baron, if it blooms outdoors, it counts! But Zantedeschia bllooming outdoors at this time in Coquitlam? That's got to be a sight for sore eyes! (and frozen noses)
The dread Fuki (butterbur): petasites japonicus var. giganteus. It's been flowering for 2 weeks already, and recent freeze has caused the flowers to fade. Primroses of course, sedum acre 'aurea' isn't flowering, but the new growth it puts on around now has a bright yellow/green tip that gives a flowering effect.
The real troopers during this cold spell have been the Hepatica noblis; no sign of being affected by the temps or the wind. The hellebores are all lying in frozen heaps in the morning, but standing up by midday. I think it will take a few days to really see if there is much damage, but I have already written off having Japanese plums this summer!
OK, you zone 8 gardeners are forcing me to really look for flowering plants, and so I did find some! I have flowering, right now, Lamium amplexicaule, Taraxacum officinale,Stellaria media (this one is going like gangbusters now), Lamium purpureum, and an unidentified species of white flowered Crucifera. And the snowdrops. Thank goodness. ;-)
