Winter Bloom for Your Garden

For those of us in hibernal denial, however, there’s another outlet: find plants that actually bloom in winter.
Some of these misfits are well known: the Christmas rose (which rarely blooms at Christmas, and in any case is not a rose, but a hellebore, Helleborus niger) and the Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) are planted to provide winter bloom.

The bear-claw hellebore, Helleborus foetidus, often displays its lime-green, maroon-edged blooms for us here in Zone 6 as early as February.
Snowdrops, early narcissi, and crocus are usually up and in bloom well before the official end of winter.
I employ all these hardy performers, but I also grow a few larger, more spectacular winter bloomers that may not be as well known. Read more...