The winter jasmine does look just like forsythia, but from what I've seen has flowers on thin green stems rather than woody ones.

Japanese flowering apricot (Prunus mume) are blooming now, that's probably the cherry you are seeing.

Here is a link that may be useful: winter jasmine

Yes, prunus mume is what I am seeing. I think your observations on the green stems of the jasmine is right on as well. I did notice that they looked greener than forsythia. I thought maybe they were leafing out early, but I think it was probably the stems I was seeing. Thanks. -Ais.

My carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) has been blooming sparsely all winter, but in the last week, I've noticed it's covered with opening buds. I have it growing in a huge pot against the house at the back of a fenced garden. We were advised not to put beds there b/c of moisture near the foundation, so i've successfully grown climbing roses and vines out of gigunda pots for over 5 years.

I'm thinking it may be time for repotting. Can't imagine pots much bigger. Can the roots be trimmed and fresh new soil added?

I don't think you can kill that stuff.

another nice winter plant that is blooming now is winter honeysuckle. it's a noninvasive bush with sweetly scented white/yellow flowers, smaller than the japonica's flowers. lovely to catch a whiff of that in winter. i'll try to root some cuttings if anyone wants it for the swap. tam

That would be great Tammy. I'd love some. The only thing I have blooming now is some creeping phlox.

ok- l'll stick some in when it gets warmer. i did stick some trimmings into a free pot last yr, but haven't ck'd on them all winter. no idea if they rooted- i sort of forgot i'd done it. blush. tammy

Can anyone suggest a good source for winter jasmine in quantity in the Rock Hill area? My son has a new house and wants to plant it on a bank. Also, where can he get organic material delivered by the truck load, not in a bag. He has solid red clay. The builder just stripped the topsoil.

Tammy, I would love some winter honeysuckle too! I have lots of year-old seedlings of Prunus mume 'Kobai' potted up for the swap. They won't be exactly like the parent (7 yrs old), which started blooming Feb 1.

{{gwi:558309}}

{{gwi:558311}}

great photos, brenda. i can smell them from here!
this is the first year for my "bonita" variety - i've been getting on hands & knees to inhale the large fragrance coming from this little tree :)

there was a beautiful mature winter jasmine between my house and the neighbor's - wish i'd noticed them digging it up, i would have saved it from their compost pile.

Tamelask did you bring some Winter Honeysuckle to one of the swaps a year or so ago? I got some from someone and I love it. I've been going out everyday for the last 2 weeks to smell it. It is an awesome plant. I just wish I had known it would smell so beautiful. It is too far from my house but then again it is very happy being trained on my back fence. Thank you very much for bringing this plant to the swap. It has been very well behaved and so easy. Shannon/Dirtrx

actually, it wasn't me. but i'm glad you have it and like it. i've been pleasantly surprised with mine. i got it as a stick from a horible mail order co, and didn't think it would live. it's now, 7 or 8 yrs later, a 6'x5' shrub that just goes to town each winter. the kids were disappointed it didn't have the sweet drop of nectar like the awful monster vine, but it stands to reason, as there'd be no pollinators to benefit from the nectar.

My winter jasmine, prunus mume, winter honeysuckle, witch hazel and winter daphne are all blooming beautfully right now, too.

My WJ is still small, but I got it as a free digging from a local botanical garden, where they have a huge one that keeps spreading and is overgrowing its bounds... Yasee, this wonderful shrub not only has pretty yellow blooms in February, but also has a weeping habit, and every place a limb-tip touches soil and sits undisturbed for very long, it roots and a new plant shoots up, so one becomes two, becomes four and so forth... A small shrub they planted there a few years ago, maybe a foot across, is now about 8 feet wide and so thick you can't see the ground underneath it, even in the winter -- a GREAT place for small birds to shelter! Of course mine was planted as just such a little sprig a couple years ago, so it's still tiny, but given a couple more years, I should have plenty to share.

The Genus/species name is Jasmonides nudiflorum (since it blooms when there are no leaves), if you want to do a more comprehensive search.

The winter honeysuckle, also easy to grow and propagate (and considered invasive by some, although I don't see it), is Lonicera fragrantissima, and once you smell one in bloom you WON'T have to ask why.

The Prunus mume is more commonly known as the Peggy Clarke Flowering Apricot. This is a grafted tree, and is a true splendor. Mine's in it's second or third year (I'd have to count), doubled in size last year, has HUNDREDS of the pink blooms Brenda posted above on it right now. They're EXPENSIVE at nurseries, too... Brenda, the guy I got mine from (a fellow local master gardener who started his own nursery about 4 years ago) said these won't grow true from seed, so I'd make sure yours do... All of his, and all he's ever seen, he said, are grafted onto some kind of standard apricot or plum tree stock, or something... He wasn't sure if you could start them from limb cuttings, or not, but mine's finally to the point I should be able to do some minor pruning once the blooming ends, and I intend to TRY starting some from the cuttings... I'll certainly let y'all know, as mine in a 5-gallon container was $50.

Also for winter color, don't forget crocus, vinca, rosemary, camelias and hellebores (Lenten roses). I have all those in bloom right now, too, except the rosemary, which the intense August heat wave killed on me last summer :(

Oh, and creeping phlox... mine's blooming a bit already now, too.

Happy Bloomings!
Jeff

Jeff, the seedlings won't be 'Kobai', since they're open-pollinated, but they should be perfectly happy blooming Japanese apricots. I like the variety 'Peggy Clarke' too, though I've never grown it. I'm adding 'Diane' and 'Ruby Glow' this spring. Camellia Forest does not graft theirs; they propogate from cuttings, which I have failed at numerous times. I'll try again this June. Cam Forest had 5' trees (trimmed to 3'if shipped) for $28-$30. They grow very fast. I'm kind of anxious to see what these open-pollinated seedlings produce. I used to just pull up the dozens of seedling trees and throw them in the compost heap. Interestingly, 'Kobai' produces many dozens of seedlings every year, but I've never seen a seedling around my 'Rosebud' or 'Omoi-no-mama'. Maybe they're sterile?

My seedlings have turned out to be good plants. Four of them are three years old; one has big semi-double very fragrant flowers that are a darker and clearer pink than "Bonita", two others are dark pink, and another has large single very pale pink flowers. They're all fragrant but the first one described has the best scent.

I saw blooming apricot branches in a vase at the Pittsboro post office. How gorgeous!

I've always wondered what the yellow blooming shrubs were this time of year. I thought it was some kind of confused forsythis too, lol.

Tammy put me down for some winter honeysuckle too, please! Do you know if it's very hardy?

I started to feel really foolish when I looked at the N&O just now, with prunus mume pictured and described as japanese apricot. Always hear ya'll singing the praises of PM, but never knew it to be an apricot. However, the branches I saw this week at the post office were more densely covered with rich pink blossoms, not sparse, though lovely, as in the newspaper picture. Does PM come in various colors?

Also, those garden getaways on the Home & Garden page got me thinking about GWebbers taking a tour one of these days...that New Bern royal governor's mansion and Montrose looked very special.

yes- pm comes in white through almost red. we went by the arboretum the other day, and they had at least 6 up & blooming. i found it interesting that some of them had a musty/musky smell that i found really unpleasant(but my son liked), but others didn't have that off odor, and i liked the fragrance that was left. seemed like the darker the pink, the more the musky- but could have been sheer coincidence. we also stuck our noses in plenty of witch hazels, early magnolias, edgeworthias, daphnes and mahonias. mmmmm.

rootd- i haven't a clue as to the hardiness, but if i recall right, that shady mailorder nursery i got it from originated in the mtns, so i'd assume it would be ok for your area. i'll be happy to put some in for you. i'll probably root a dozen or more so i make sure i have enough for any takers. i'm assuming it's reasonably easy to root, being a honeysuckle. t

Winter honeysuckle is VERY easy to start from cuttings, and is actually on some invasive lists, although I don't agree with that.

Winter jasmine is VERY hardy and also very easy to start (mine came as a dug-up rootling that started from a branch-tip that stuck to the ground at the back of the big plant at Hatcher... it was a MISERABLE February, and I let it sit, bare-root on the patio, no moisture, just under the patio roof, for about THREE WEEKS before I got around to planting it, and sometime in March of '03, and it still lived... just barely the first year, but it bloomed each of the past two years and is starting to show out a bit now.

As for the Peggy Clarke, my first one had blooms that smelled strongly of cinnamon (just LOVELY). The one I have now doesn't seem to have as much of a scent (I was out there taking pics the other day, and didn't notice much, but I was more busy taking pics and trying to catch a honeybee ON a flower while simultaneously not getting stung, I'm not sure I really did much flower sniffing... Now I need to do it again.

I'm a bit restless about mine right now, as I'm a believer in pruning in early-mid November, but while the bottom half of my PM is in full bloom, the new growth from last year in the top half is just budding out good, and I have a few spots I can and should prune (that should make good cuttings to try rooting), but I WON'T prune it until the blooms fade... just can't cut something that beautiful, yaknow?

Winter daphne also has a reputation for smelling just GORGEOUS, and that's what first attracted me, when I smelled one on Feb. 1 several years ago at a local nursery and actually had to backtrack a dozen feet or so and figure out where the scent came from... Then I was sold, although it took me a while to accept the prices... The thing is, mine are in their fourth year here, starting to go into full bloom again, and yet I've NEVER gotten that lovely scent from them I smelled at the nursery... Anybody know any special fertilizer I should use?

Happy Flowersniffing!
Jeff

Tami, we went to the Arboretum last weekend and everything smelled off to me! Strange. There had just been a heavy rain. I think sometimes Prunus mume can smell off as the blossoms age, but usually they do have a very nice smell. One of mine sort of smells like a combination of dianthus and narcissus (the good sort).

I just got a winter daphne, hooked the same way as Jeff. Once I smelled it I HAD to have it. Hope it smells as lovely in years to come. Now I'm wary. -Ais.

that's odd- i have never seen/smelled a daphne odora who didn't smell good. there are other types of daphne that don't have as much scent, or barely any at all, but not odora. i don't have a clue as to why yours isn't scented, jeff, or what to do about it. how sad! i think i'd be tempted to take it back to the nursery and ask and complain. as you said, they aren't cheap.

my first experience with one was at jcra. i smelled that delicious haunting scent near the perennial border and tried to figure out where it came from. after much puzzled sleuthing finally figured out it was in the one little walled in area with the bluestone pond in the middle of the 2 perenn borders behind the trial field. that turned into dh and my favorite meeting spot for lunch for many yrs. we used to get such a kick from seeing people do exactly what we'd done- scent it and hunt for it for a while(you can see through the slats from the bench). that corner also has my very favorite piece of art in the arboretum- a wonderful freeform planter.

they are wonderful plants, but as i posted on another thread recently, they die suddenly from a type of soil disease, usually bewteen yrs 4 and 9(mine kicked at about 8). heartbreaking. very unusual to hear of or see and older shrub than that(the arboretum's has been there at least 12 or so- but i noticed the one is getting these strange gall like growths on its stems). they are expensive because they grow slowly. they need good drainage!!

well, maybe the pm trees that i noticed the off scent on were nearing an end to their bloom cycle. the blooms were still gorgeous, though. if anyone gets back, be sure to ck out the chinese magnolia tucked in near the bunch of hellebores directly behind the perennial border on the beryl rd side of the jcra. it's probably about done now, but was in full full bloom and had a wonderful scent when we were there. in partial shade and nice columnular form, too. i may try one of those in the back if i can find a source.

The Yulan magnolia hasn't started blooming yet at the Arboretum, but one winter it bloomed all during the month of January (even with some real cold spells) and the fragrance was wonderful. I've pondered getting one of those, but wonder if that year wasn't exceptional and the plant would be more of a disappointment -- usually getting frozen in its prime.

alicia, where's the yulan magnolia at in the arboretum? the chinese one (the label said chinese michelia, magnolia foveolata) was just a bit past prime when we were there on weds. there was some beige/brown spotting of the flowers- whether from cold or age i don't know. it almost gave them a parchment colored look. there were some pure white, so i'm fairly certain they aren't supposed to be mottled. they still looked luscious & smelled wonderful. the leaves were evergreen, like a reg mag, but the backsides were green, not brown, and a bit thinner. really loaded with flowers. anyone seen this available? tammy

Prunus mume comes in lots of pinks, almost corals, and white, with single, semi-double, and double blossoms. All have that characteristic multitude of prominent stamens. 'Peggy Clark' is one cultivar, along with 'Rosemary Clarke', that was developed in the U.K. PC is double, deep rose. CamForest also has 'Bridal Veil', a weeping form that is either white or pale pink to white, not sure. Gorgeous.

The daphne I got was $30 at Logan's. Not cheap, but not bad for the good sized plant I got. If it makes it 10yrs I will be delighted. If soil disease is the reason for sudden die off then I wonder if there's any good way to protect from that. Maybe I should leave it in a container. I guess I should try to get some cuttings rooting now so I have some left when the original dies. -Ais.

Ais, it is slow but easy to root.

The Yulan is in the white garden, next to the old entrance. It's a good-sized tree. Not yet blooming this year.

I feel like a dummy because I just got done posting re "Forsythia look-alike blooming in W-S?", but thanks to opening your post, now I know it's a winter jasmine. I definately need some if anyone would like to do a trade.

Here is a link that might be useful: trade list

i have a friend who's trying her daphne in a permanent pot. well insulated, i'd guess it would work. i believe- don't quote me on this- that i heard ann clapp say it is a soil borne fungi. potting soil would certainly give certain advantages, given that. rooting cuttings as a hedge bet is a good idea. i think i'll do that with the pure white one i have now once it gets going. i just planted it last yr and it's still getting its feet under it. i've never seen another that didn't have the rose on the backs of the petals. i like the way that looks, too.

alicia- i'll be sure to loook for the yulan mag next time i'm there. thanks for the location. tammy

My daphne died the second year...it was in a pot, but probably not well enough insulated. I hope you have much better luck, ais. The scent is like no other.

brenda, that price at CF for a 5' PM is very good...I'll have to get out there soon. How could anyone live without one of those apricots! I've heard ya'll going on about them, but didn't realize how beautiful they are. Your pictures are breathtaking.

I love quince and would like to buy one before they bloom, which will be soon. That coral color is so pretty and so early. Maybe Dale's in Sanford (Dale's is that "other place")

peace, claire

tammy, I 've never rooted honeysuckle, but happened to just hear about the experience of one of the curators at NCBG with it. She found it surprisingly impossible, until she tried greenwood cuttings or layering, rather than semihardwood cuttings. Guess my newly rooted daphnes are staying in pots - they are too darn slow to have 'em die. Ann Clapp calls it mad-daphne disease - is that what kills 'em or what makes us keep buying more?

both, i think! lol.

i had decent luck rooting semihard cuttings of a pink flowered vine- not sure the species, etc. not as much luck with coral, which i know several people who want. i'll have to try some of the methods you describe. not sure why- but i get the feeling the winter honey will be easy. haven't ck'd the ones i poked in the fall yet- they're in a not so easy to access spot behind stuff. will start some spring ones when it's through blooming.

pup, i have some %$*^! quince i have to round up. plant it where you want it, because it sends roots all over. i moved an old one, and am battling suckers that come from far flung roots still many yrs later. i love them, too- just not where it was. i esp like the deep mysterious dark red cultivars, but mine's the loverly coral color. sure brightens up spring! tam

hey, y'all. i ck'd those winter honeysuckle cuttings yesterday, and at least 4 had rooted. i'll root some more before the swap. tammy

Tammy, saw some of the Winter Honeysuckle blooming yesterday at the Zoo in Columbia. Loved the scent!

good- hopefully i'll have lots to share. my only regret is when you pick it to bring some inside they only stay scented for a day or so, and the flowers drop off quicly. have to enjoy the scent outside. mine started as a twig, and took a couple of yrs to get going well, but is now a 6'x5' shrub. i've had it about 8 yrs maybe. tam

You gotta love winter honeysuckle -- it blooms for such a long time in winter, and even temps down to 20 don't hurt the flowers.