Garden Photo of the Day

Carol’s Winter Garden

Celebrating the earliest bloomers

close up of Leucojum vernum in bloom

Carol in Hendersonville, North Carolina, is sharing some beauties from her winter garden with us today.

The winter garden is dearly appreciated. Honeybees emerge for the snowdrops (Galanthus spp., Zones 3–8) and hellebores (Helleborus hybrids, Zones 4–9). Cyclamen coum (Zones 5–9) is in flower. Cyclamen hederifolium (Zones 4–9) foliage makes an attractive ground cover for this time of year.

various hellebore flowers in a china dishFlowers were collected from different hybrid hellebores and placed in a Limoges china dish so that the “faces” are easy to see and enjoy.

close up of Galanthus Cowhouse GreenThe outer petals of Galanthus ‘Cowhouse Green’ (technically called tepals) have a delicate green hue. This variety was found in the 1980s by Mark Brown in Buckinghamshire, England.

close up of Cyclamen hederifolium foliageThe foliage of Cyclamen hederifolium emerges in the fall and looks beautiful all winter before going dormant again in the spring. Every plant has slightly different patterns on the leaves.

close up of Diggory snowdrop‘Diggory’ is a snowdrop variety with beautiful showy petals that seem to almost puff up as the flowers open.

close up of Leucojum vernum in bloomLeucojum vernum (Zones 4–8) looks similar to snowdrops and blooms nearly as early, but the blossoms have six broad petals tipped with green of the same size rather than the three large outer petals and three small inner ones of the snowdrops.

close up of Pagoda snowdrop‘Pagoda’ has bold green spots on the outer petals, giving it a distinctive and unusual look.

close up of Trumps snowdrop‘Trumps’ is another variety with green markings and is much loved because it is very vigorous, rapidly clumping up and multiplying in the garden.

close up of pink Cyclamen flower amongst foliageA flower of winter-blooming Cyclamen coum is mixed with some foliage of Cyclamen hederifolium, which blooms in the fall.

close up of snowdrops with hellebore behindThese “yellow” snowdrops are still mostly white, but they have yellowish ovaries and markings on the petals. A hellebore blooms behind them.

 

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Comments

  1. MohawkValley 03/04/2024

    SPRINGTIME !

    Let's rock .

  2. User avater
    simplesue 03/04/2024

    You have a really interesting and beautiful collection of flowers, I especially liked those unusual Leucojum vernum! And such a pretty way to display hellebores in a dish for a new twist on a bouquet!

    1. User avater
      vanhatalosuomi 03/04/2024

      me too!

  3. perenniallycrazy 03/04/2024

    So beautiful and unique! A true celebration of early spring bloomers. Thank you.

  4. margotnavarre 03/04/2024

    I enjoyed the pictures and the speciality clumps of snowdrops that add so much interest to your beautiful winter garden.

  5. btucker9675 03/04/2024

    So very pretty - I'm now inspired to plant cyclamen in my wooded garden area here in the Charlotte area. The beautiful foliage alone is worth it. Your garden is lovely.

  6. User avater
    vanhatalosuomi 03/04/2024

    Very lovely spring flowering plants. Thanks so much for sharing your garden!

  7. CarolIntheGarden 03/04/2024

    Thank you very much for the compliments! A young boy noticing my hellebore flowers asked me, " Are they sad?". I explained that the flowers were nodding but not sad! His remark encouraged me to take a sampling of varieties for the porcelain bowl. The snowdrops with yellow ovaries are ' Primrose Warburg'. One with the green blotches is ' Trymposter', I believe, but the label has faded.

  8. User avater
    cynthia2020 03/04/2024

    Carol - thank you for sharing your lovely flowers and foliage!

    1. CarolIntheGarden 03/04/2024

      It's lovely to have like-minded gardeners see what others are growing! I appreciate all of you!

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