Maryland Blooms in December



Blue Heaven Sorbet Violas

    

This late fall and early winter have been warmer than usual, without any of the extreme cold snaps that usually discourage or eliminate flowering on almost all plants.  To be fair, many plants were not blooming; however, there were a larger than normal number of plants that were still blooming on Monday, December 5, 2011 when that these pictures were taken.

Violas and Pansies are known for blooming well in cool weather; however, they are in the minority of plants that are usually still blooming on December 5 in our area.  Some years, even Violas and Pansies are looking pretty sorry by this late date.

We decided to try some of the Sorbet series of Violas this year as last fall, winter and spring, I drove by a planting of the Sorbet Violas that seemed to look better than any of the Pansies that we had planted on campus.  Hopefully, my observations won't prove to be a case of the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.  So far, the Blue Heaven Sorbet Viola and Yellow Delight Viola are performing admirably near the Clock Tower by Van Munching Hall.  While I am not fond of the screaming yellow, visible from the space shuttle, color of the Yellow Delight Sorbet Viola, I am a big fan of its wonderfully sweet fragrance on warm afternoons.  The Blue Heaven does not seem to be fragrant.




Yellow Delight Sorbet Viola

 

Holly Osmanthus



Some of the Holly Osmanthus were still blooming on Monday, however, I did not detect any of the strong fragrance that is usually associated with their tiny blossoms.




'Otto Luyken' Cherry Laurel

 




Knock Out Roses and Sorbet Plum Velvet Violas

   

Knock Out Rose



 



Pink Double Knock Out Rose

 



White Out Rose

 



White Out Roses and Pampas Grass



The Knock Out hardy shrub rose series and other hardy shrub roses bred by rose breeder Bill Radler have performed very well for us in College Park, MD.  In most of the locations on campus where we have these hardy shrub roses planted, we cut them back every year because of height concerns.  However, if you plan ahead and site them properly, you do not need to cut them back every year and can let them get quite large.  Most of Bill's roses have proven to be far more disease resistant than other shrub roses that have been given a lot of press as being disease resistant. 





Unknown Camellia Cultivar

'Winter's Snowman' Camellia



'Winter's Snowman' Camellia

'Winter's Snowman' Camellia (Camellia x 'Winter's Snowman') is from the Ice Angels series of Camellias. It is a complex hybrid cross made by Dr. William Ackerman of the National Arboretum in Washington, DC that was bred and selected for cold hardiness. Some refer to 'Winter's Snowman' Camellia as the "Telephone Pole" Camellia because of it's narrow habit. This fall blooming Camellia usually starts blooming for us around October 29.





'Six Hills Giant' Catnip




'Dropmore Scarlet' Honeysuckle



Glossy Abelia



Leadwort or Plumbago


Sam Bahr, author and photographer