Do you realize how lucky we are to live where we do? I certainly do every day I see the weather on the east coast and southern California. Ice, snow, floods, fires, mudslides… yikes! But I am sitting at my computer on a nice - if overcast - day in early January looking out at the garden and trying to remind myself it is not March, it is January. When the temperatures reach 54 degrees, it's hard to wrap my mind around the dates on the calendar.
The gardens are getting confused, too. I have hardy fuchsia and native geraniums blooming as well as a rose. It will be a long season for them if they stay blooming until September.
Some of my favorite plants would be blooming this time of year even if it wasn’t so mild. The Hellebores, for example. I have several varieties including “stinking hellebores” (Helleborus fetidus) and one called ‘Ivory Prince’ that are lovely every winter.
Another, Helleborus ‘Hot Flash’ is in full bloom with pink and red-tipped flowers and spikey leaves. I bought it for the name about eight years ago and it has never disappointed with long-lasting flowers and attractive leaves that remind me of agave.
The Witch Hazel ‘Diana’ has already started blooming in spidery little flowers. It took this plant about five years to finally feel comfortable enough to bloom, and now every January it puts on a show. I think I found the right spot for her after several moves. She is in high shade in summer and full sun when the alder leaves are gone. She seems happy there.
But my favorite winter bloomer has to be the Sarcacocca confusa that I planted near the front gate about 14 years ago. I know when I walk down the path that spring can’t be far off when I smell the heavenly scent of the sarcacocca, aka sweet box or vanilla bush. It is so fragrant that on a warm day in winter it scents the entire garden. It is one of those scents that hits you as you pass by and stops you in your tracks, thinking, “What IS that smell?” And then you realize it is the lovely scent of the sarcacocca.
This plant has several varieties, but they all have small, fringed white flowers that turn into berries loved by the birds. The S. confusa is a smaller shrub -topping out at about 4 feet - than the S. ruscifolica, which grows to about 6 to 7 feet tall. The spread on the S. confusa is about 3 to 4 feet wide, too, wile the S. ruscifolia get to be 3 to 7 feet wide. S. confusa also has black berries while the S. ruscifolia has red ones.
The leaves are pretty all year long as well. They are small, pointed and a very glossy dark green. So this shrub can be a staple in most shady or partially shady spots in a garden. In cooler summer areas such as ours, they will do well in a bit of sun, too, as long as the soil doesn’t get too dry in the summer. Watering once a week should do it when we don’t get summer rains. But they do prefer a well-drained soil.
The Anna’s hummingbirds that stay all year love the nectar, especially since this is one of those rare plants that has flowers in the winter. Bees are also drawn to it but I only see them on days like today when the air is warm and the skies are sunny.
There is also a groundcover called Sarcacocca hookeriana humilis that has similar flowers, berries and fragrance, but only grows to about 2 feet tall with an 8-foot spread. This one’s berries are a blue-black. When you go to the nursery to shop, be sure and take the botanical name with you of the one you have room for so you don’t go hoping for a seven-foot plant and wind up with ground cover. This is good advice for any plant you are shopping for. Be careful, too, because many times tags will say it is a S. confusa when it is really a S. ruscifolia. While the scent will be similar, the mature size will not!
My last tip is to plant your Sarcacocca near a path or even the front door so you can have the pleasure of the fragrance when you come and go each day. This pest- and disease-free plant won’t disappoint.
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