Re: all year bloom

Hello Claire,
    No south wall here that can be planted... south is our front porch and
we are on the north side of a hill.
    There are a few plants that I appreciate during January out in the
garden. Helleborus foetidus begins to form bloom stems during the middle to
latter part of December and thee are always a few of these in January. Real
bloom come into show during February, though. Contrast in color between the
newly growing bloom stalk and the older foliage that is almost an
olive-black during winter is nice without the blooms.
    I am especially fond of our native Mitchella repens which remains a
bright wax-green no matter what the weather. Some times a few red berries
remain on the mini ground-cover during winter. Mostly those are soon eaten
by the birds, though.
    I do have my dwarf conifer collection and some of those change colors
with the oncome of winter temperatures. Having said that, I do miss not
having things in bloom. Winter garden is simply a different garden with a
different feel to it.
    During winter I can sit on my big worry rock near the cave entrance and
listen to the blue birds flit from branch to branch in pursuit of cedar tree
berries. That is quiet. Suppose it is all part of an overall plan........
    Gene E. Bush
Munchkin Nursery & Gardens, llc
www.munchkinnursery.com
genebush@munchkinnursery.com
Zone 6/5  Southern Indiana
----- Original Message -----
> > Gene,
> >
> > In one of the early Beverley Nichols books, he has written what amounts
to
> > the same paragraph as yours above.  Then a chapter on how to do it.
> >
> > I cannot remember all of the genera used by Iris unguicularis is
> > remembered.  I got some seed from SIGNA and grew two pots of this Iris
> > producing a flower only once.  I could not seem to remember the cycles
of
> > growth and eventually lost the plant by watering it all summer.  Now
along
> > with the name tag, I add another tag to the pot with cultural
instructions.
> >  A sign of age is forgetfulness so more than two or three pots of tender
> > plants with no instruction leaves one straining to remember just what
that
> > plant wants to live.  It also wants a higher pH than ordinary potting
soil.
> > One day I will try this again for winter bloom indoors.  Some cultivars
are
> > intensely fragrant.
> >
> > Can you grow I. unguicularis in your warmer location?  The UK books and
now
> > even American books recommend against a southern '"wall."   Where are
all
> > these walls to shelter less hardy plants?  If starting over with a new
> > garden, be sure to build a sheltering south facing "wall."
> >
> > Claire Peplowski
> > NYS z4

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