Top Ten February Blooms.

I just love February blooms but this year it has been difficult to find a chance to get out and enjoy them with constant winds and Biblical downpours of rainfall . I am a year- pear-shaped nurseryman and would n’t dream of hang up my nigga for winter , but this twelvemonth I have had to duck and plunk and let in defeat on multitudinous occasion . But never listen , you’re able to have a look at some of my favourite February blooms from the comforter of your chairwoman and that is the best place to be today .

The most oculus catch plant in my February garden is the wonderful Japanese Apricot , genus Prunus mume . It actually comes from China , but it is extremely treasure in Japan where many variety are uncommitted . I do n’t know why it is n’t seen more often here because it is hardy and blooms for week starting as early as January . The flowers of ‘ Beni - chi - dori ’ which means ‘ trajectory of Red Plovers ’ are the deepest pink and have a sweet almondy smell . The tree diagram grows to about 8 ft , mine has n’t quite reached this yet , but after 8 age it is a right sizing .

Prunus mume‘Beni - chi - dori ’

Prunus mume‘Beni-chi-dori’

Prunus mume‘Beni -chi - dori-

I searched for the beautiful white form for several age after falling in love with it in Cambridge Botanical Garden . I found one a distich of year ago and it is now a wonderful sight in February . It is quite compact and smother in white , sweet scented blooms . It is called ‘ Omi - No - momma ’ which means ‘ Memories of Mother ’ . Well , I think it does , Graham Stuart Thomas wrote in his book . ‘ Colour in the Winter Garden’that it intend ‘ To have its own Way ’ and this is because it sometimes throws up a flushed pink flower . I would love to have a small copse of these mythic tree in my woodland garden but they are expensive to buy . The white one seems to be quite rare . Other blossom trees are coming into bloom now but these are very early as they begin flowering in January and they get better and well as February goes by .

genus Prunus mume‘Omoi - na momma ’

Prunus mume‘Beni-chi-dori’

The Cornelian Cherry tree , Cornus masbears bunch of starry yellow flower in February . It can grow to about 12 metrical foot , in fact I had a huge one in my former garden which was a wonderful sight against a blue winter sky . It used to acquit yield in copiousness and I regret that I did not then know that the yield is edible . When ripe they taste a bit like cherries . Quite often seedlings used to appear . This one is one of those seedling , it is about 5 ft high up now and it has take a few long time to flower well .

genus Cornus Bay State

I have an early flowering camelia in the garden . I wish I could recollect its name but this is one that I had in a passel for years and then plant out even though I do n’t have an acid dirt which it prefer . To my surprisal it is flourishing with healthy dark-green leaves even after several years in the land . Plants do n’t always obey the rule . The flowers are double and a frail subtlety of pink .

Prunus mume‘Beni -chi-dori-

Camellia maule’s quince

In a plenty in the greenhouse I have a littleCamellia x vernalis‘Yuletide ’ . I bought this because I had see it onPBMgarden blog . Susie ’s ‘ Yuletide ’ always seems to bloom for Christmas as its name suggests and as she is the most amazing efflorescence arranger it always search fantastic in her vases . I have had to wait until February for a few blooms on mine . I think it needs a very sheltered spot here so I do n’t think I will take chances it outside .

Camellia x vernalis‘Yuletide ’

Prunus mume‘Omoi-na mama’

Another calcifuge , ( window pane - loving plant ) is the rhododendron . I told a neighbour that she ca n’t possibly get rhododendrons in her garden here . She confounded me by saying that she can and does . Anyway , I am not get going to risk my prettyRhododendron‘Christmas Cheer ’ in the basis and it looks lovely in a pot . Rhododendrons have compact root Ball so you could probably get away with planting them in stack of ericaceous compost for a yr or two , but I don ’ intend it would work long condition . Despite its name this never blooms at Christmas .

Rhododendron‘Christmas Cheer ’

As Shakespeare said ‘ Daffodils take the breaking wind of March with beauty ‘ but this twelvemonth they are very former and the winds of February are flattening the taller ones . A pretty one which is always early is ‘ Spring Dawn ’ . It is not too tall and so copes quite well with the wind . I sleep together it for its twist petals and frilly yellow corona .

Cornus mas

Narcissus‘Spring Dawn ’

The ever - popular dwarfNarcissus‘Tête - a Tête ’ is not trouble by the malarky at all . It is endearing in pots but if you engraft it out it will make nice big clumps .

Narcissus ‘ Tete -Tete ”

Cornus mas

One of my favourite daffodil is the native oneNarcissus pseudonarcissus , this is the one which pep up Wordsworth ’s poem . It seeds around mirthfully and wait lovely with primroses .

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

Safe from the storms in the glasshouse I have a few pots of delicious piddling daffodils . Narcissus ‘ Snow Baby ’ is a dearie illumination with perfectly organise white prime .

Camellia japonica

Narcissus‘Baby Snow ’

Another whitened one is the ring daffodil which is aptly constitute ‘ Narcissus bulbodicum‘White Petticoat ’

Narcissus bulbodicum ‘ White Daffodil ’

Camellia x vernalis‘Yuletide’

I have a newNarcisssus bulbodicumthis twelvemonth and I love it . It is a cross bred in Holland . It is calledNarcissus bulbodicumsubsp.obesus‘Diamond Ring ’ . It is the prettiest little daffodil and scrumptiously fragrant .

Narcissus bulbodicumsubsp.obesus ‘ Diamond Ring ’

I love the other species crocus ; the lilliputian tommies , Crocus tommasianuswhich seed all over the garden are arrest over now but they are a February delectation , specially when the sun pull in a rare coming into court . If I plant novel crocuses the squirrels watch me and comprehend them up but they do n’t seem to notice the single that are all ready there seeding about . I have given up plant them , I would like some unlike miscellany but nature is doing a great job of fan out these little beauties around so I will content myself with them . They are a endearing spectre of lilac and some of them are dismal .

Rhododendron‘Christmas Cheer’

Crocus tommasianus

Now and then yellow ones pasture up .

I have a few clumps of snowy ones .

Narcissus‘Spring Dawn’

Crocus

Here and there I have some of the prominent , fat , shiny Dutch ones but I do n’t love them as much .

Crocus‘Striped mantrap ’

Narcissus ‘Tete -Tete”

Of course there are still plenty of snowdrops to enjoy . My addiction to snowdrops is even more out of control than my addiction to jugful so I will just choose a random few today .

Spring Snowflakes , Leucojum vernumslowly make large clumps but they do n’t spread as quickly as snowdrops . They have round flower with six petals of even size so they look like trivial lamp shades . They raise on myopic stems unlike the bewilderingly name Summer Snowflake , Leucojum aestivum . The pointed tips of the petals are gullible .

Leucojum vernum

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

you could get a kind which has two flowers per stem . This is calledLeucojum vernumvar . Vagneri . The green mark is much more pronounced on this one .

Leucojum vernum ‘ var . Vagneri

There is a yellow - tipped one calledLeucojum vernum‘Carpathicum ’ .

Narcissus‘Baby Snow’

Leucojum vernum‘Carpathicum ’

I have my own variety which appeared in my garden which is sodding livid with no markings on the tips .

All over the garden I have groups of Leucojum aestivum but I have never planted it , they just seem themselves . The flowers are no bigger than those ofLeucojum vernumand they are n’t the same pretty lamp tincture shape . As they have such long straw they are rather undistinguished . Still they are quite moderately in a vase .

Narcissus bulbodicum ‘White Daffodil’

Leucojum astivum

Little flag make colorful display in February . Iris reticulata‘Pauline ’ is one of the dependable one which comes back each class . This one has pry up through the encroaching heather .

The Algerian Iris , Iris unguicularishas been blooming for week but now it is joined by the TurkishIris lazicawhich is very standardized but with shiny foliage and even more blooms .

Narcissus bulbodicumsubsp.obesus ‘Diamond Ring’

Iris lazica

My last post was dedicate to false hellebore and you might think that I have nothing further to say about the subject . But this morning torrential rain kept me out of the garden and when I break down to the local farm store to grease one’s palms some nut I regain another Rodney Davy hellebore just as I had been say I would like a few more of these beauties . It just jumped into my basket when I was n’t looking . The lovely thing about these hellebores is the beautiful marbleised leaves . All my other hellebores have their leaves cut off in January as this displays the blossom well and the former leave of absence are nonimmune to scatter dim Leaf Spot . But these beautiful leaves are part of the charm . So here is my latest beauty , Helleborus‘Dorothy ’s Dawn ’ .

Helleborus‘Dorothy ’s Dawn ’

Crocus tommasianus

Do join me with some of your February blooms . give is just round the turning point and flowers are ricochet up everywhere .

58 Responses toTop Ten February Blooms.

The Japanese Apricot is arresting . it would be so wonderful to be able to garden year - round . And to be able to grow Camellias . I ’m just a little too snowy and cold in winter for those thing to find . It ’s so supporting to be able to visit blog like yours to see some of the blooms that will be with us very before long , like the Daffodils , Hellebores , Snowdrops , and iris diaphragm . give thanks you for that . 🙂

As always you have a terrific regalia of blooms for us to go weak at the knee for Chloris . My wish list always grow when I show your monthly favourites C. W. Post . I have specially fallen for the prunues mume ‘ ‘ Omi - No - mummy ’ . Does it need a sheltered spot ? I trust that the weather condition perks up for you soon . I do n’t like to remember of you shivering as those winds blow in from Siberia .

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