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WINTER JASMINE - Modesty, Grace, Elegance
What a relief, Winter Jasmine has won my December poll receiving seven votes, equating to 50%! I am only relieved because I have this in my garden and I don't have Daphne which came a very close second, sorry Daphne, maybe one for the future?
Introduced from China in 1844, Winter Jasmine bears sunshine yellow flowers on bare stems.
Nearby neighbours have got the most marvellous display of this at the front of their home, theirs facing west, my dad (his facing south) and stepdad (his facing north) also have lovely specimens, so you can see will tolerate any aspect you may have. A few years back my dad gave me some good size rooted cuttings of his, two of which have taken around my garden, one of which needs a really good prune for next year, some of you may already know that me and pruning just don't go together!
I always go into raptures when people talk of Winter Jasmine, I just think it is so lovely, I suppose because it always adds such welcome colour to a garden, which at this time of year is sometimes shrouded in such dreary cloud, like today for instance.
In second place came Daphne with six votes, Clematis Cirrhosa with one vote, and Sarcacocca with no votes (is this because not many of us really know what this winter beauty is?). Judith from Everything in the Garden's Rosy reminded me of the beauty of Witch Hazel (Hamamelis), certainly another welcome addition to any garden at this time of year.
Michelle from Veg Plotting has also reminded me of Viburnum Bodnatense Dawn, which I do know of and love, and Winter Honeysuckle, which I have definitely got on my shopping list for Winter 2008!
13 comments:
Hi Louise and a very Happy New Year to you. I voted for Daphne and I'll tell you why. My late mother was called Daphne and she had a beautiful Daphne bush in her garden in Brighton which smelled divine. For ages I've been meaning to buy one for my garden and this winter I finally got round to it, so am looking forward to it flourishing, hopefully. Love this blog and your home is where the heart is one. Thanks for sharing all your interesting facts with us. Jackie Mx
Hi Louise,
Don't forget Viburnum bodnatense 'Dawn' as well. A candy pink flower that scents the whole garden. There's also a winter flowering, scented honeysuckle too - but my photos weren't good enough to post.
I've got a Sarcococca 'twig' (a freebie when I ordered some bulbs form Parkers) languishing in the coldframe at the moment, waiting for me to rescue it and pot it up. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell you what it's really like next winter...
Hi Jackie M, thanks so much for your lovely comments on my blog. I love Daphne too, I haven't got one but my neighbour has, and it smells gorgeous wafting near to my front door. How lovely for Daphne to remind you of your late mother, my late mother was named Veronica, so of course this reminds me of her. x
The winter jasmine is the only plant flourishing in my garden at the moment and it is lovely. I enjoyed reading the post and learning all about the Winter jasmine.
Sara from farmingfriends
The Winter Jasmine is just gorgeous - made more so because I will never have anything blooming in winter (except indoors). It is such a hopeful sign that spring will be arriving in a few months.
I don't know Sarcacocca - will have to look it up.
Happy New Year to you Louise!! Hope you have a wonderful year - keep on blogging!
I really like winter jasmine too, although I don't grow it here. Once you started listing all those glories of the winter garden, I thought about how soon spring will be here.
Thanks for the link Louise! I forgot to mention that I made a Christmas wreath for a friend using winter jasmine prunings she gave me from her garden. Something ellse to bear in mind for later on in the year!
Jasmine is lovely, glad it won the poll! Interesting post about it too! Best wishes for 2008!
Yes the winter jasmine and the virburnum are both in flower in the Willow House gardens but so are the few geraniumns that didn't get rescued from the frosts - hope they make it through the winter.
Carolyn
http://willowhouse.typepad.com
Oh it's lovely Louise, I'd never seen it before. I voted for daphne because of it's beautiful frangrance and I love to have some in a little vase on the table, fills up our whole lounge/dining with it's gorgeous scent. Will look out for the winter jasmine next visit to the nursery. Thanks for sharing.. and your polls are so much fun. Gx
Hi Louise,
Are there any problems with your latest poll that you jnow of? I've voted for snowdrops, but I got a message back saying cannot process request :(
And I do so love snowdrops too - they're a sign of hope when everything else is so grey and dreary. Hope this doesn't bias the poll!
Hi Louise, thanks for your reply. Veronica is a very pretty plant too. I love flower names for people and work in a school where one family has 8 daughters (not all in school together, although there are triplets!), all with lovely flower names. Jackie Mx
Jackie M - you've reminded me about my mum and her sisters. She's called Chrissie May and her sisters were called Vera, Rose (though we called her aunty Betty so she wasn't mixed up with my gran, who was also called Rose), Violet and Lily. The exception was the baby of the family, my aunty Janet!
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