Now and Later, Part 3: Blooms and Emerging Foliage

by Lydia Holley January 31, 2022

It is always a delight to see flowers in bloom during the winter.

I have several camellias, both japonicas and sasanquas, so I can experience the least amount of time without a bloom in my garden. Most years, I have something blooming every week.

Want to add winter-blooming plants to your landscape? Hellebores are an evergreen ground cover which blooms early in the year, usually beginning around January. Their blooms can last for months, even though their low, nodding flowers require bending over to see.

Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum), related to witch hazels, also blooms early most years. Their bright but miniature flowers look as if they have been through a paper shredder. Paperwhites are common bulbs which bloom six weeks after planting and will return each year. Their bloom time may vary after the first year.

Mahonia delights with golden blooms. Paperbush’s (Edgeworthia) white flowers hang in clusters. Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) and winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) are some other plants you may wish to add to your landscape for blooms during the winter months.

Even though flowers delight, just as exciting to see right now is the emerging foliage from bulbs. Peeking up through soil and grass, it is a promise that the garden will soon be full of blooms, with flowers in abundance. Bees will visit, butterflies will appear. Muscari bulbs will bloom early, followed by daffodils. Even the foliage on my crocosmia plants is several inches high.

Bulbs may be the first to peek, but they are not the only plant to come out of hiding. Perennials which have been dormant all winter will push their way toward the sun, emerging out of the ground. It is satisfying to see fresh growth, knowing beautiful flowers will soon follow. If your daylilies, cannas, and ornamental grasses have increased in diameter, you can divide them as new growth appears.

The occasional winter bloom brings us joy for now, but new foliage reminds us we will soon enjoy spring’s beauty.

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