Tuesday, 29 January 2013

January Stars - What else is good this month

Here is another selection of our favourite things in the garden this month.

1 Hamamelis or Witch Hazel. A lovely small tree that flowers profusely at this time of year, it has a lovely spicy fragrance and delicate, frilly, yellow flowers that look like tiny party popper streamers!

2 Sarcococca or Christmas Box. Lovely glossy, low, evergreen bush that has delicate, not very obvious white flowers. It's the honey sweet fragrance that is most noticeable, so it's perfect to plant next to a path or back door, and is happy in most situations even dry semi shade!

3 Euphorbia. A huge range of plants in different foliage colours and sizes, that show well from now until this time next year! We have lots of different types in our gardens but make sure that you buy the most suitable one for your planting position, some of them get pretty big and can spread (not invasively, but they can reach out quite a way) Lovely pale green flowers are showing on the larger species at the moment, a great burst of fresh colour much needed at this time of year. 
I'm a great fan of the Euphorbia - I even forgive them for having the Poinsettia (Euphorbia Pulcherrima) as one of their number!

4 Camellias. Again a huge range of colours, flower shapes and sizes that flower from now until mid spring. The early species, like Camelia Anticipation, are flowering already and giving beautiful bursts of colour.

5 Lonicera Fragrantissima or Winter Honeysuckle. The white/palest yellow flowers appear on arching bare stems that have a lovely coppery/reddish tinge. The tufts of flowers are also sweetly scented.

A lovely start to the year. Now to plan what needs to be added for next year, and any gaps that could be filled! Any suggestions of things to add?

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