I walked out into my garden today and discovered my witchhazel in full bloom! Hamamelis virginiana or the common witchhazel is a lovely North American native shrub hardy to zone 3. Yellow fragrant flowers appear in the fall, often as late as December as mine has done happily. Normally the flowers are obscured by the yellow fall leaves but most of them have fallen off … Continue reading Surprise Christmas Blooms
While working at the garden centre, I was often asked “What’s that plant on a long stalk with a ball on top that looks like fireworks?” Well, that’s an ornamental onion. Then I usually heard “A what?” Ornamental onions or alliums are one of the lesser known bulbs but they are an invaluable addition to the garden. Carefree and elegant, they can be as delicate … Continue reading Audacious Alliums
It helps to have some young brawn (in this case my son) to dig the holes for you 🙂 This is the gorgeous magnolia “Butterflies”, one of the rarer yellow magnolias. Magnolias are an old group of flowering shrubs and trees dating back to the Cretaceous period. Just think these beauties were around with Tyrannosaurus Rex! It is theorized that they developed before bees and … Continue reading And Plant!!
Almost everyone is familiar with snowdrops, those wonderful little bulbs that pop up as soon as they can, but there is another early spring bloomer, Hamamelis or witchhazel. A shrub not commonly found in nurseries, grab it if you can find it. It has clusters of yellow to bronzy red flowers with strap shaped petals that bloom in February to March here (some varieties bloom … Continue reading Early Spring Blooms
Saw a very fat hummingbird sipping nectar from the flowers on my seven-son shrub so its a great shrub for both bees and birds! Continue reading Hummingbirds
Garden Graces 