Winter Flowerers

I'm afraid that here on the north-east tip of the Welsh coast actual flowers are a brave (not to say foolhardy) few, sandwiched between autumn stragglers and promises for spring. Blooms out now are: the first handful of flowers on Acacia dealbata, hopefully to be followed shortly by the thousands of buds yet to open; Hamamelis mollis, with about half the flowers now out; Coronilla glauca, flowering profusely since September, and probably good for at least another 4 months; Grevillea lanigera, finally getting into its stride although it has had some flowers open for over a month; and two correas: backhouseana and an un-named one that I bought at a market stall! I'll second Tim's praise for this genus, although I foolishly lost 3 of mine last winter, viz. Marian's Marvel (since replaced, thanks to Tim), pulchella and mannii; foolishly because I never took the precaution of rooting cuttings. Lesson learnt? Well...

Cheating somewhat, I know, but under glass I have a couple of abutilons (Patrick Synge and Orange Tinkerbell) with some flowers still going (going off on yet another tangent, I have outdoors an un-named abutilon [again from Tim] a descendant of Ashford Red, which is proving remarkeably hardy; flowers dished by the snow and frost, but not so the foliage); Plectranthus zuluensis still producing its cool pale blue flower spikes; Erica versicolor now on its second flush of flowers, after producing the first lot in September/October; a few tardy left-overs on Tibouchina urvilleana (any advice on pruning this, anyone? It's getting mighty leggy and untidy); and flower spikes just developing on Veltheimia bracteata 'Lemon Queen', which is definitely an indoor plant in these parts.

Others that just about get into the frame are Grevillea victoriae, which is just about to finish flowering after a two-month stint; Grevilleas rosmarinifolia and 'Olympic Flame', loaded with flower buds, some even showing colour, but none actually open; and Salvia microphylla, which was still flowering a few days ago but which has had its last flowers smashed by a combination of hail and wet snow. On the subject of salvias, does anyone have experience of growing S.spathacea? I was given a young plant of this in the summer; it's still in its small pot and still resolutely alive, despite having been outdoors, next to the house, all that time, and experiencing several nights of light-ish frost (-2 to -3C) already.

David's mention of Gordonia axillaris sent me scurrying to check my reference books. What a lovely plant; sadly my book tells me it's unlikely to survive temps below -3C, although it's 'growable in Cornwall'. I don't live in Cornwall; if only. Camellia pitardii also sounds lovely, although I've been unable to track down any photos of it so far.

In the meantime, it's a case of keeping fingers crossed on the frost front, and hoping that the rhodos (not Med by a long chalk, I know) fulfil their bud-laden promises this coming spring. Thankfully, Camellia 'Donation', although a very common plant in the UK, never fails to perform profusely, a case of a plant being common for the very best of reasons. It should start flowering in March.

Nearly forgot: libertias. I don't have L.grandiflora here at present, but when I did it proved to be soundly perennial, and flowered profusely every year once it settled down. I got rid of it because it was self-sowing into and overwhelming everything else! Perhaps I should give it another go, and dead-head it with alacrity? I have a few other libertias here -elegans, procera, caerulescens, and Ballyrogan Blue, none of which have flowered yet. I suspect it's a family that likes to get settled into any new home first.

Einion Hughes,
Rhyl, North Wales,
on a cold but gloriously sunny day.  
(technically zone 8/9, but currently feeling more like zone 3!)    
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index