Yesterday, I saw a few scattered flowers on winter jasmines (Jasmine nudilforum, above) in the neighborhood, but mine are showing only a hint of yellow. With typical January temperatures it should begin to bloom near the end of February, though it seems a bit ahead of schedule. It is showing a bit of color, but not enough to figure that it will burst into flower any time soon. A week into January the yellow blooms are only slightly past their peak, so I expect that partially shaded plants will show color for another couple weeks.Ī year ago the late winter flowering leatherleaf mahonia (Mahonia bealei, above) began to bloom by the middle of January, and checking it today there seems no possibility that it will again this year. The flowers of Winter Sun’ mahonia (Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’, above) are little bothered by cold, and in fact consistently cold weather prolongs the flowering from mid November into January. I’ve made an effort in recent years to plant winter flowering plants to shorten this dreary season, and in cold temperatures these often bloom for extended periods. For the first time there were flowers in the garden every day through the winter, and so also every day of the year. The winter was more typical of two states to the south, but with just enough spells of cold to satisfy plants that require a number of cooling days to flower. Last winter’s extremely mild temperatures convinced me that I could be content without much cold at all. A few days of cold are exaggerated to pretend that wherever they are is as cold as areas a few states to the north. Somehow, I feel slightly apologetic that northwestern Virginia doesn’t suffer Arctic temperatures and is just mild enough that a few hardy souls are able to eek out sporadic blooms through the eight weeks that is the worst of our winter. I don’t pretend to understand the psychology of it, but even residents of the deep South are quick to assure that they have “real” winters. I sense I’m a bit of defensive when writing about mid-winter flowers in my garden.
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