Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: flowers

Iris 'Katherine Hodgkin' January 2010

Erica australis February 2009

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Pallida' February 2009

Hepatica americana February 2010

Pieris japonica February 2010

Camellia japonica March 2010

Chionodoxa luciliae March 2010

There is not a huge number of plants that bloom in winter in Seattle. But it is a real treat to walk in the garden on a sunny winter day & find plants in bloom. Winter blossoms are often fragrant. The sweet scent of Hamamelis x intermedia (Witch Hazel) fills the air with enchantment. Many Mahonia bloom early in the year. Some of the earliest are listed below. Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ can bloom before the winter solstice, other selections bloom later in winter. Early-flowering Camellia japonica also bloom in winter, but fully double flowers can rot in winter rain. 1 of the earliest perennials to bloom in Seattle gardens is Euphorbia rigida in January. It is followed a few weeks later by Euphorbia myrsinites. A stunning combination of purple & yellow flowers is Crocus sieberi ‘Firefly’ & Narcissus ‘Tete-a-Tete’ in February.

Visit the Witt Winter Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle for color & fragrance on a sunny winter day. I’ve gathered these names from sources including the Cascadia Garden, the plant list for the Witt Winter Garden, Bulbs by Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix, Perennials by Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix, Shrubs by Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix. These encyclopedic books by Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix have are ordered by bloom time rather than alphabet, making it easy to find flowers for every season. During very cold winters, some of these plants may be pushed toward spring bloom. Many spring-flowering plants bloomed during the very warm winter of 2010.

Winter Flower Plant List

Trees
Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry)
Corylus maxima 'Atropurpurea Superba'
Hamamelis x intermedia, Hamamelis japonica, Hamamelis mollis (Witch Hazel)
Prunus mume (Japanese Apricot) Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ (Winter Cherry)

Shrubs
Abeliophyllum distichum (White Forsythia)
Camellia japonica ‘Elegans’ & others, Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ & others
Chimonanthus praecox (Wintersweet)
Corylopsis glabrescens, Corylopsis pauciflora, Corylopsis sinensis, Corylopsis spicata (Winter Hazel)
Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ (Hazel)
Daphne mezereum
Edgeworthia chrysantha
Erica australis, Erica carnea, Erica x darleyensis
Forsythia giraldiana, Forsythia ovata
Garrya x issaquahensis (Silktassel)
Jasminum nudiflorum (Winter Jasmine)
Lonicera standishii
Mahonia ‘Arthur Menzies’, Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape) Mahonia bealei, Mahonia mairei, Mahonia repens
Pieris japonica
Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’, Rhododendron cyanocarpum, Rhododendron barbatum, Rhododendron dauricum ‘Midwinter’, Rhododendron lutescens, Rhododendron moupinense, Rhododendron mucronulatum 'Cornell Pink', Rhododendron ririei, Rhododendron strigillosum
Ribes laurifolium, Ribes sanguineum
Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary)
Sarcococca confusa, Sarcococca hookeriana, Sarcococca humilis, Sarcococca ruscifolia
Viburnum x bodnantense, Viburnum farreri, Viburnum tinus

Perennials
Corydalis cava
Crocus sieberi ‘Firefly’, Crocus tommasinianus, Crocus vernus
Cyclamen coum
Euphorbia myrsinites, Euphorbia rigida
Chionodoxa luciliae (Glory of the Snow)
Eranthis cilicica, Eranthis hyemalis (Winter Aconite)
Erythronium dens-canis (Dog-tooth Violet)
Galanthus (Snowdrops)
Hacquetia epipactis
Helleborus foetidus, Helleborus lividus, Helleborus x hybridus, Helleborus niger, Helleborus x sternii (Hellebore)
Hepatica americana (Liverwort)
Iris histrioides, Iris ‘Katharine Hodgkin’, Iris reticulata
Leucojum vernum (Spring Snowflake)
Narcissus ‘Little Gem’, Narcissus ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’, Narcissus ‘Small Talk’, Narcissus ‘Tete-a-Tete’, Narcissus ‘WP Milner’ (Daffodil)
Primula elatior, Primula x juliana, Primula vulgaris (Primrose)
Trillium ovatum (Wake Robin)
Tulipa turkestanica (Tulip)

About This Blog

This blog began in 2008 as Metropolitan Gardens to provide information on gardening in Seattle & places like it. Click on Gardening in Cascadia. The blog expanded to include Parks P-Patches Public Gardens in the US, Canada & Europe. Then Nature was added. (The difference between nature & gardens is intent. Nature happens. Gardens are planned.) Many recent posts are not about Seattle, or even Cascadia. They are Urban Landscape: streetscape & architecture. Cascadia is the region including the Cascade Mountains of Washington & Oregon. If you want to contact the blogger, leave a message in comments. Comments are moderated & private messages will not be posted.

Our Land & Climate

The city of Seattle rests between 2 bodies of water: Puget Sound & Lake Washington. Puget Sound is a substantial part of the Salish Sea & a very small part of the Pacific Ocean. The Salish Sea is set apart from the Pacific by the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington & Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. The dense, wet clouds of the Pacific Ocean travel as far as the Cascade Mountains, near the Salish Sea & not very far from the ocean. East of the Cascades lies the desert of the Columbia Basin. The moist, temperate climate of Seattle extends south to northern California & north to southeastern Alaska. The Pacific Northwest Coast from San Francisco Bay to Cook Inlet shares a flora dominated by evergreen coniferous forest. The central portion, west of the Cascade Mountains, is called Cascadia. The climate is cool & wet from fall to spring, warm & dry in summer. The Olympic Mountains block Seattle from much of the Pacific rainfall. Seattle is drier than the Atlantic coast of North America & northern Europe, cooler in summer & warmer in winter. It lies near the latitude of Paris & Quebec City.