December Garden Colour

I've been clearing out the corner by the Wendy house in this garden so while dodging the snow flurries today I took a break for a few photos. Not much colour I'm afraid but there are a few brave souls in bloom. Really though the trees come into their own at this time of year.

A couple of wallflower (think they are a bit premature!)





A rather sorry looking primrose



A gorgeous silver birch



And the conifers down by the Wendy house (hundreds of bulbs in amongst that lot too!)

 

oh well done Frogescue, lovely pictures, lovely conifers

I will go on a search tomorrow and see if I can add some. This is the last of the 12 months, but I hope that others will add to each of the months done so a beginners and all can get some ideas.

 

Thanks Fran - I've been struggling to come up with something for December, The winter jasmine is still going strong and so is the viburnum (See November) but the frosts have pretty well decimated everything else and the birds have stripped most of the berries. Dig down a little though and it's surprising how much activity there is just under the surface with all the bulbs showing healthy shoots. We maybe can't see it but Spring is just around the corner and the first snowdrops should apear soon!

I've seen mahonia in flower somewhere too, easily grown evergreen with something like a holly leaf, has yellow flowers followed by dusky purple berries - so any takers on that?

 

I too went looking for garden colour this month, and like Frogescue, the bitter weather we had in November put paid to a lot of the flowers that often show blooms into december, fuchsia, roses. Tis January that the first signs of the spring to come first show But even so I found a few:

Wild wallflower - a little perrenial - only about 6" tall, that flowers for 9 months of the year, and starts its first blooms in the winter. Tolerant of most soils, and light.


Then there are the hellebores - this one is Niger, and grows quite tall. Perrenial, this will self seed, although it has not done so for me.


For a red, try the flowering quince. This one is quite young, having been given to me as a seedling.Very tolerant shrub, but prefers a wall or fence to support it.


Then as Frogescue posted, there's the primulars, looking a little sad, but will gamely produce flowers all winter. Prefers damp soil but will tolerate dappled shade - remember its wild relative, primular vulgaris, the primrose, a flower of the hedgerows.

 

lovely photos. my garden is almost colour free the hard frost took any late flowers. Do keep it up you happy snappers.

 

That flowering quince is gorgeous Fran

I'm having my 'summer hols' at the moment so I'm not working in the gardens but I have grown gorse as part of an anti-intruder hedge before. Sad fact but we do have to protect our properties so how about some 'green razorwire' :D

It is legumeous (has root nodules) so established plants don't like being moved (much the same as broom or lupins in that respect) but it's easy to grow even on the poorest of soils and given a sunny aspect will produce a mass of flowers in Spring but will often flower in December too. What's more it's easy enough to get some free seeds in the summer when you hear the black pods cracking!

This bush was growing at the roadside oblivious to the snow and freezing temperatures.