Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day – December 2012
The finale for the year… there was much more in bloom this time last year, oh well. Hopefully we’ll see more blooms arriving soon; I spotted my first Hellebore buds appearing over the weekend – ‘Nigra’ will be the first to bloom, no sign of buds on the others.
Instead of blooms, we’ll cheat a little and use frost instead. Early last week saw rather cold temperatures across the UK (and Europe), strangely enough though, by far the worst day was the Friday even though the frost had gone.
I woke up, peeped out of the window and was pleased to see no more frost…
Pete said goodbye and set off to work. I heard the door go again and assumed he’d forgotten something. A few minutes later I had a text from him telling me to watch for ice.
Apparently, everywhere was black ice. I messaged my senior to say I’d go in later, because of the ice. She phoned me, and as we were chatting Pete came home again; it didn’t make it more than a few doors down because it was everywhere.
I decided to wait for it to melt as we were due a much warmer day of around 8C so it had to melt at some point. I eventually got into work at around 10:15, after using my ice grips to get to the car and giving Pete a lift into work.
The city centre and north of the city was much warmer at 3C so no ice problems at all; typical.
So, yes. That was fun… Especially as I’ll have to make up the hours later… Yeah, cheers for that. What happened to extenuating circumstances??!!
Ah, moving onto the plants…
Frost is the main theme, as it brings with it its own beauty, but there are also the odd blooms too.
Annual Rudbekia have mostly been killed off by the frost… A couple are holding on though.
The garden remained frozen for a few days… This is why once fog/drizzle arrived it turned to ice once it hit the frozen ground.
Sedum always looks glorious with ice on its blooms; if you only need one reason to have some in your garden, let this be it.
The frosts put an end to the Bonariensis, I wonder if they will survive as I haven’t protected any. As always, Flat-topped Aster is also gorgeous in its skeletal simplicity.
Erysismum… I get bored of mentioning it. But the reality is, it honestly never stops.
The rose bud still hasn’t opened although it doesn’t yet seem to be dead after being in bud for weeks now.
Copyright 2012 Liz.
All rights reserved. Content created by Liz for Gwirrel’s Garden.
Gwirrel's Garden 
Flowers look so beautiful when frosted, as if touched by icing sugar. Your verbena should be ok, ours have been frosted many times and there is always plenty the next year for us, the bees and butterflies to enjoy.
Hi Pauline,
I have lost some Verbena previously, but hopefully they’ll be OK this time… The rain meant I just never got round to lots of jobs such as protecting the base of some plants like the Verbena Hastata, Bonariensis etc. Will be disappointed if I’ve lost Hastata.
Fabulous shots of flowers in winter with frost and ice…I hate black ice too and unfortunately I still have to drive an hour with it..they salt the roads here to help melt it
Hi Donna,
The roads had been gritted here too, but they couldn’t do anything about the frozen rain that fell, washed a lot of grit away and froze on the ground. They don’t grit residential areas, but I had spread some on our road a few days before because of the frost. All I could do was wait for it was get warmer and then leave.
J’ai toujours beaucoup aimé les macros de gel, à faire comme à regarder. belle journée
Frost is often referred to as “blooming”…as pretty as any flower, and even more fleeting. Your photos do it justice.
We have no blooms here in Michigan (USA), but with a mild winter so far, my Daffodils are popping up like crazy. Some frosty mornings so far, but nothing icy! :O)
Hi,
Sounds like your winter is similar to ours last year where it never really got cold… I had plenty of spring blooms up around now. We had a few days of frosts but it’s back to being around average for this time of year.
Hi Liz! What is your sedum? Mine (Matrona, Autumn joy and Xenox) all turn black and dry, yours seems to stay a little pink and translucent, I like it!
Don’t worry for the verbena bonariensis, they will survive winter as soon as the soil is not soaked and frozen. Otherwise you’ll have all the seedlings to transplant wherever you need. Your pics are always amazing.
Your frost tipped Sedum look wonderful with each tip so perfectly outlined. How lucky you are to have flowers and buds still out, you can still putter around the garden enjoying the plants.
I am waiting for a frosty morning to take some lovely winter photos. Yours are gorgeous! I am glad you were safe from the black ice. That sounds dangerous!
I thoroughly enjoyed your review of 2012. You have some beautiful plants. I smiled when you spoke of your accidental planting combination of Persicaria and Helemiun as I found this combination by accident too.