So Pieter, in your zone is this normal to pip this time of year? We finally had a week of hard night time frost temps.……still having mild conditions during the day this week. Today is 50 degrees F.

debra

Debra, it's more or less on schedule. I just checked some pictures from the same time frame over the past couple of years and last year the hellebore I showed above -'Mahogany Snow'- was in bloom December 9th and there was plenty of Iris reticulata popping up by December 1st, same with the snowdrops. Matter of fact by the time the iris bloom winter is far from over and I have some pictures somewhere showing them poking their colorful heads up through the snow.

This here is an Iris histrioides 'Katherine Hodgkin' poking up mid-February '19

Pieter

Oh wow, yea no not here! Some years I may see teeny tiny tips of peony shoots (which are easy to spot) in February or so. Sedum crowns (rosettes? not sure what to call them) are usually evident before the New Year -- that would be only thing I can can think of here.

Some bulbs showing here too.

Wow, yeah, I'm with mxk. If there is mild weather I have crocuses popping up in February, (in a very sunny, warm, sun-drenched spot) but usually it's later than that. Although I have to be honest and say that I'm not always out in the middle of winter looking for tips, sprouts or crowns lol so maybe I'm missing something! But definitely nothing in November or December here in my garden. I'm having zone envy already and it's not even December haha!

:)

Dee

We no longer have winter here so yes, bulbs often think spring has come. What used to be a straight zone 5 is now pretty much zone 7.

I hate it.

Lots of anemones (blanda, coronaria), wild gladioli, iris reticulata, narcissus,, sweet peas, hardy annuals...

Nasturtiums had the first touch of frost last night.

Gee, I'll have to look around to see if anything is showing. We did have a couple of weeks of cold weather and freezing temps overnight a few times, but today is mild again and raining. I'd hate to have no winter at all. I enjoy all the seasons and remember when I was little how distinct they were. And I also look forward to a break from gardening over the winter. I'm ready for another season by spring. I'd find it too much work if I had to tend to the garden year round.

I did look around and nothing is showing here. I know I have seen bulb foliage above ground earlier than normal in the past few years, but not this early and I still don't see Galanthus until March. This fall has been along the lines the past 5 years have been. We have had a week at a time of colder temps especially overnight, but then it warms up for days at a time. Today is 58F and tomorrow is going to be low 40s.

I did see a town near Kansas on the weather map yesterday that was in the path of a cold front coming down from Canada and it was in the low 60s on Thursday and went down into the 20s the next day! Yikes!

A few days ago, I was burying kitchen scraps in my veggie area for next spring and the ground is still quite workable. Enough so that I had an email for a 40% off sale on bulbs and ordered some small bulbs that I can still plant. Looking back at what it was like in my 20s and 30s, no way would I have been planting bulbs in December, I'd more likely be shoveling. [g]

So uplifting Pieter! I do hope your weather holds. The best I can say is the Hellebore here are still very green as well as Pulmonaria & Vinca. I see Daylilies putting out some new growth and the buds of Hylotelephium (Sedum) 'Autumn Joy' which are always visible in fall - and winter if I wanted to shovel the snow away from them. We have had snow that melted but soon I will be only seeing white.

Thought I'd provide an update. Things aren't quite as far along as I'd hoped when I made the original post. We were hit 3rd week of December with a week's worth of nighttime temperatures below freezing and that's REALLY set things back. In years gone by it was common to see Galanthus elwisii in full bloom by the middle of January and I'd see the first flowers on a couple of my Helleborus sometimes as early as Christmas, well, not this year. Obviously that cold spell put the brakes on everything and I finally saw my first snowdrop flower open today....the Helleborus are a few days away yet... you know what they say, it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings and I get this feeling it'll be some time before she makes that curtain call...

Welcome to climate change!

Pieter

To illustrate, here's a couple of pictures of Helleborus 'Mahogany Snow' with the first one taken last year on Jan/13 and the 2nd one taken today.

Above is last year's, this year's is below.

A dramatic difference. In past seasons I've had this cultivar in flower before year's end...as in the one below, taken Dec/9/21...

Pieter

My Helleborus ’Joker’ is in bloom now and I have a smattering if daffodils popping up.

What a pretty blossom on that Hellebore! Are yours usually this early?

I just saw a few Galanthus flowering in the garden, which is very unusual for me this time of year.

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA, this is the eatliest I’ve had it bloom in the 4 years since I planted it. It is in a spot near my front door so I see it everytime I go outside and it will still be blooming 4 months from now.

Markay, It's a very pretty color. Nice to have a long bloom period like that. Will you get snow at all and if you do how will that affect it. I tried to buy a variety of Hellebore called 'California Dreaming' last year, but they were out of stock. It was a pale yellow like yours. That reminds me I should try to get it again this year.

Would it be a fair guess that you are getting more heat in the summer with climate change? I think if you have to get the negatives of climate change, it's' nice if you get a little bonus of earlier Hellebores in late winter. 😀

I am btw 1-2 miles inland from the Chesapeake bay so that has a moderating effect on our weather both summer and winter but it still gets hot and VERY humid. even at that I am in a sweet spot. When I walk my dog in the winter, I can feel the temp drop and the wind pick up as I get 5-6 houses down the road. I’ve had tender salvia, lantana abd even million bells over winter the past two years, but I think the brutal cold around Christmas probably got them all.

If it snows (and we do get some), the hellebores flowers will just fold up and wait for warm subshine to return. I’m the same way. 😂

Only the merest peep of hellebores here, but i have moved the auriculas out of the greenhouse as several have flower buds. The daphne bholua is flowering (sparsely) and I admit to being a tad anxious about chopping one tall wayward branch. I am even more bemused by the state of the agapanthus. I have several evergreen varieties which I generally leave outside. This year, to my dismay, all the top growth has wilted and died, leaving poor naked shoots. I have no idea how to proceed apart from removing all the horrible limp foliage and hoping for the best. Quite a few of the pelargoniums look similarly distressed but have, at least, had the decency to shed the foliage, leaving me with woody frameworks (which could be dead as doorposts for all I can tell). Same with the dieramas. Nonetheless, the alstroemerias are shooting up, along with agastache, geum, adenophora, campanulas and all the little bulbs I planted back in October.

Quite a lot of the hardy annuals have suffered - falling out of pots, trampled by the sheepdog (and my own clumsy boots), I also have a splendid, if messy, display of winter clematis - the cirrhosa have trailed the entire length of the garden, round the corner and over the washing line to the greenhouse roof. I have not had the heart to cut them back, even though they look a bit of a mish-mash.

In a mad rush of winter pruning - ceanothus, ifuchsia, parahebe, ndigofera, ribes, roses, aloysia, salvias and chaenomeles...I feel I am just chopping away mindlessly tbh.

Markay,

I’ve never been in the Chesapeake Bay Area, but I remember a long long time ago, reading the book Chesapeake by James Michener and just couldn’t put it down. His abilities to describe the landscape were magical and I could imagine what it must have been like when it was untouched.

I think Climate change is far from straight forward. I have a book on reserve from the library called, ‘How to prepare for climate change: a practical guide to surviving the chaos’ by David Pogue. I’ll be interested to see if he has anything useful to share.

Rosaprimula, You have such an extensive garden! My ambitions as a gardener are always way ahead of my abilities and most of the time, I restrain myself. You seem to just go for it! LoL And you seem to be very much a detail person. I don’t think I could keep up with the amount of growing and tending you have on your plate.

I don’t do much envelope pushing as far as hardiness goes. I’m just the opposite, I am growing in zone 6b here in New England and I will often aim for purchases of plants that are a zone hardier than mine. I did try a Camelia once that was supposed to be hardy to z6 here but it didn’t even make it through one year. It was dead as a doornail the next spring. Your growing zone allows you to grow a lot that I don’t attempt. I have at least 5 months of no gardening at all, beyond making a trip to the compost heap or some winters, we used to feed the birds. Most winters my focus is not on gardening very much at all. Taking care of house plants. Making sure I have seed for the next season. Catching up with a garden journal.

This winter I am reading a lot of gardening books which I haven’t done in awhile and making plans for a few changes in the garden next season. I won’t start pruning until February and I have enough to keep me busy.

I can’t imagine seeing growing plants in January. You’re fortunate. But I hope the weather stays consistent enough to allow your garden to grow without damage.

PM, I read that book too.

It was brilliant to get in the garden, after days and days (weeks) of rain and grey misery. I wouldn't really call it extensive, Prairie, just a bit squeezed. My ambition always supercedes my abilities but having seen off so many plants, I am fairly insouciant about the latest round of plant killing. It's only when I read other posts and think 'Oh yeah, I used to grow that - wonder what happened to it' - when I realise just how many plants have passed through my less than tender hands.

@rosaprimula thst last but sounds just like me!! These are my early daffs!

Markay, I see you are in a warmer zone than I am, but zone 7a and you have daffodils up that much?! I can't even see the tips of the daffodil foliage and I'm in z6b.

Rosaprimula, We're still in gray rain and today it was very windy and the cold went right through you, then it started snowing and stopped again. We're going to have 2 more days of this and finally next Wed/Thurs it's supposed to be 49F and mostly sunny for 2 days. Can't wait. I love to get outside multiple times a day regardless of the weather. I enjoy weather - until I get cold...or hot...lol. I have a nice long down coat that keeps me toasty warm and angora mittens that keep my hands warm most days. Not today.

I've lost a lot of plants over the years. I notice it when I am updating my spreadsheet inventory of plants. I see what I've bought over the years and they are long gone. I don't have anywhere near ideal growing conditions and I've done a lot of experimenting.

I don't regret those losses, because my garden was just not meant for most of them. The regret I often have is that I haven't been able to take advantage of the opportunity to divide or increase the plants that are here and happy, so I can expand what is going well, faster.

Prairiemoon, most of my daffs are still sleeping. this variety is ‘Rijnveld's Early Sensation’ which I grow a small number of just for the thrill of daffodils in February. My pulmonaria will usually start blooming in February also but I haven’t noticed it doing anything yet.

I've lost a lot of plants over the years. I notice it when I am updating my spreadsheet inventory of plants.

The number of perennials that have "pushed up daisies" in our garden over the years would be ginormous...actually it would be embarrassingly shocking.

Markay - that is fascinating! I'm going to have to try that variety. Thanks.

Rouge - The reality is fresh in my mind since I just updated my spreadsheet. I hadn't touched it in about 5 years and couldn't really use it any more. I just kept saving tags to a shoe box and I finally got it emptied out and onto the spreadsheet. It was also interesting to see what I paid for plants over the years. I keep the info about cost and where I purchased them.

Is there a gardener who hasn't shared that experience! [g] Do you miss them and did you have fun trying to grow them?

Do you miss them and did you have fun trying to grow them?

Touche @prairiemoon2 z6b MA as the answer is a resounding yes (to the Q "did you have fun trying to grow them") but as to the Q "Do you miss them", I cannot accurately answer as there are too many to recall as I don't keep an organized record of my purchases.

Thank you for this timely thread. I have hellebores in bud and can see daffs and iris reticulata (so?) just poking through. But sunset won’t pass 5pm for me until almost the end of the month and the gray, rainy days feel relentless. I am enjoying all the pics!! And for those with zone envy, the pics on another thread of winter trees are beautiful enough to give you snow envy 😂.

A great many of my hostas are potted, mostly in nursery pots. Since we have such a wet winter I put the bulk of the smaller pots in a sheltered area to keep the medium from getting waterlogged and start root rot. We're now getting to that time of year where I can expect to see signs of growth and indeed thank goodness this year's no different.

I keep my clausa potted up for a good reason: it's got a deserved reputation for being somewhat of a spreader, I frequently have runners coming out of drainage holes. Nonetheless having said all that I keep it because of its lovely purple flowers and because it invariably it's the first to pip, and it's not disappointing me this year.

In addition I saw a Lilium lankongense bulblet that has broken ground and although we're going just below freezing again for a couple of nights they both have me itching with anticipation for the coming spring!

Pieter