Sunday, January 15, 2012

Bloom Day, January 2012

In December I had a brief post about the only two plants blooming in my garden. This month's post is briefer still, species-wise (although I got excited and took more pictures.) My solitary garden blooms this Garden Blogger's Bloom Day are on three Camellia x 'Winter's Snowman'.


'Winter's Snowman' blooms so early that the flowers often get damaged by winter's wet weather. Some years the blooms have looked rather depressingly like little blobs of wet tissue stuck all over the plant. This year has been relatively dry, and the blossoms are lasting longer and looking much prettier.

I mentioned in an earlier post about this particular camellia's open structure and the fact that we are not overwhelmed by their ability to create privacy for us. The way they are performing so far this winter though, I'm quite prepared to enjoy them as the stars of my garden this Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.



The soft blush of pink on the opening buds is a delightful surprise up close.


Pop on over to May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in other gardens this January. There's always something there to enjoy!

14 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I wonder if our camellia had been white like these if I would have managed to get rid of it? Some how it was so much easier to say good bye to a garish pink and white stripe.

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    1. I'm with you about the candy-striped camellia. I doubt I could have kept it either!

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  2. Hahahaha...I was just about to say the same thing...I much prefer this one to those crazy pink ones you usually see around town!

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    1. Scott, we actually have two Camellia japonica that were here when we bought the house, and the Mulch Man is attached enough to them (and the living room privacy they afford) that we have kept them both, a dark pink and light pink.

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  3. Me too, what an elegant bloom. Interesting to read on the bloom day posts how dry it's been everywhere.

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    1. Denise, I like this one because, in spite of being a cross, it doesn't so much scream HYBRID!

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  4. I can see why you love these plants. When nothing else is happening it's nice to have a few blooms we can count on to cheer until spring. Gorgeous!

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    1. Grace, although they weren't quite what we had in mind, I grow a little happier with them each year. I guess time is on their side!

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  5. I wish I'd known about the 'winter snowman'. I bought two in the sales , both red , not intentional ..drat. For the same reason, Privacy . Still not sure if It will replace my pots of bamboo. I've seen some monsterous big Camilla's growing in my neighbourhood, scary !

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    1. As Loree has demonstrated, life is too short to live with a plant you don't like. That said, I doubt you'd find 'Winter's Snowman' in a sale. Part of the reason we didn't haul them out earlier was the slightly embarassingly large sum we paid for the three!

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  6. Beautiful. I think ours were finally toasted this weekend though they were hanging in there Friday. Spring is coming!

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  7. Chris, I'm so out of touch with east coast camellias: does 'Winter's Snowman' bloom there in fall?

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  8. Having the stage to himself, that snowman is putting on a great solo performance.

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  9. I guess "relatively dry" made more sense five days ago. I can't imagine those nice blooms have done too well this week...

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