Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Garden bloggers' bloom day January 2014

"Thank goodness for Mahonia" edition.

I don't have a lot blooming right now but my Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies' is putting in overtime, making sure that every hummingbird in the neighborhood has a food source to fight over. I love this shrub and it's been blooming for over a month now.


My Mahonia 'Charity' hasn't bloomed and doesn't look inclined to, but a recently acquired Mahonia 'Underway' is just starting to bloom.


Just one hellebore has started blooming . . . the others are almost there.

Helleborus x ballardiae 'Cinnamon Snow'

While I don't have a ton blooming right now, I couldn't be more delighted. Every day that goes by means more sunlight and every month will bring more and more blooms! How lucky are we?

Happy bloom day and thank you Carol of May Dream Gardens for hosting!

27 comments:

  1. Last night I realized it was still light at 4:45...yay! (about that witchhazel, buy it!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Now I wish I'd bought 'underway'

    ReplyDelete
  3. That mahonia is just a taster of things to come :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ack! Here I go, complaining about 'Arthur Menzies' again. Once more, the trusses fattened then blackened in the cold. Oh well...I claim to not be about flowers and the shrub is very pretty without them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love Mahonia and have one that was gorgeous for a year then declined. It might be the crippling heat and humidity, but they are wonderful plants and the bees love them so.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's been eons since I killed my last mahonia, so it might be time to try again. Amazing how many great yellow-flowered shrubs there are for January, what with the mahonias and acacias and whatnot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh no! You better make him walk the plank for that one. (I am the worst.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. For some reason, I rarely see Mahonias in nurseries here, even though some are suitable to our area. Maybe I have to explore mail order...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those are some gorgeous flowers, and I'm sure the hummingbirds thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  10. They seem to thank me by dive bombing me every time I get near the mahonia. :) I've gotten the message loud and clear that I am just renting it from them!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Most of mine are still in the bud phase but that Cinnamon Snow starts blooming December.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really love them. Good thing, I have amassed five different kinds somehow!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Have you watched Carol Klein's Life in an English Cottage? She shows how to crossbreed hellebores and I really want to try it. We've probably got a thousand different cultivars between all the garden bloggers.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It never gets old, killing shrubs. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh, that's too bad! We're very lucky here, we have almost no humidity in the summer.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That's crazy that yours blackens! We got down to six degrees here and I was so worried that mine would follow suit. Is it the snow that rots them?

    ReplyDelete
  17. I just watched how Carol Klein propagates mahonia and I really want to try it . . . too bad I almost killed Underway while it was still in a pot and tucked too far under the eaves. It only has two branches left :(

    ReplyDelete
  18. They thank their stars and dive bomb me!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jenni @ RainyDayGardenerJanuary 16, 2014 at 10:03 AM

    I would love to try it also! I need to watch this.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The whole series in on YouTube and it's woooonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm envious of your blooms! My hellebores won't bloom (if all - it's my first year with them so we'll see) for another month or two.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I planted a whole bunch of hellebore starts this fall and I don't think any of them are going to bloom. I'm hoping that next winter will be an extravaganza! Waiting is so hard.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I don't have any blooming mahonia, and I'm feeling bereft. 'Arthur Menzies' is intense and wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  24. It would be such a good compromise plant for you and the mulchman!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I like those Hellebores. I just planted my first Hellebores last fall and I'm hoping I see some blooms in March (or April).

    ReplyDelete
  26. I'm loving your blog! It's making me so homesick for Portland. I think I might have a break down soon and start "putting a bird" on everything! You're blog is helping me to avoid that potentially embarrassing situation!
    www.clevergirlreviews.com

    ReplyDelete