December Colors

One of my ongoing projects is to find different plants that provide bright colors in the winter.  They don't have to be the brilliant colors of summer, because their setting is much more muted.  But small bits of mauve, purple, red or yellow seem to jump out.

 Here is one bit of green, which would not even be noticed during the summer.  But now with everything died to the ground, this Arum sintenisii, from Plant Delights is striking.  When I saw this Arum is from Cyprus, I had to have it as a reminder of our trip to Cyprus last January.  Having visited that Mediterranean island and learning how hot and dry it is in the summer, I can understand why this dies back in the late spring, only to put new leaves up when the weather cools.

The Heather Bed has the most color because I have tried to pick varieties by their winter blooming schedule or the winter foliage.  The whole bed has done very well this year because we regularly kept it moist through soaker hoses.  Even though the surviving plants have had to endure our summer droughts, they so much prefer the comfort of being watered.  The red foliage of the "Multicolor" heather is very welcome, even with the problem keeping these plants alive. I have lost several, and don't know if it was from summer drought or the super cold winter two years ago.

What has been the most surprising combination is this mix of lavender flowers from three different plants that are all blooming together.  While the picture is not the best, since the plants are spread out over several feet so it is hard to get all in focus, you can see them here.  The blur of green and a very light lavender-blue on the bottom right hand side of this shot is a spreading rosemary plant.  Behind it you see the in-focus flowers of lavender.  I don't have my plant list here as I write this, so I cannot be sure, but I suspect these are Hidcote Blue.  This is another plant I grow as much for having visited the Hidcote Manor Garden, and seeing the plant reminds me of that incredible place.  In the background, in a shadow from the holly tree, is a lavender heather.  The name is written down in my garden journal, but that is miles away from where I am writing.

Finally, there is a January and February bloomer that has jumped ahead of the seasons, the Winter Jasmine, or Jasmine nudiflorum.

 

This is a new bush that we started along the top of a retaining wall behind the house.  The original plant was bought from the National Arboretum many years ago, and sprawled down over the retaining wall around our house in Washington, DC.  I brought a piece out when we first bought the house in Maryland, and have the original bush attempting to grow up and over a different retaining wall.  That one doesn't get the sun so strongly, and has not begun blooming like this. 

This is such a cheerful yellow, it leads me to smile every time I see it.  It is just what is needed when the weather is too cold to be outside, and the wind is whipping around. All the better with a bit of snow, and the jasmine defiantly blooming through it!