Bee on Japanese Quince
Well for this December’s Garden Blogger Bloom Day you would be hard put to find any indication that winter intends to show its face. Not only is the red Japanese Quince fully in bloom but the bees are all out to take advantage. I watched them collecting pollen this afternoon and they went mostly into the closed buds. My guess is that there were so many bees around that they had already cleaned out the open flowers.
Japanese Quince in bloom
There are many other plants that are pushing the season. The Christmas Rose continues to flower up a storm…
Helleborus niger ‘HGC Jacob’
And the two early flowering Camellia japonicas are also putting out new flowers every day.
Camellia japonica double flowered pink
The first snowdrop is fully open at this point.
Galanthus elwesii
And the Pineapple Sage continues to hang on with its brilliant red blossoms.
Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans)
In addition there is a Calendula that won’t give up on the season.
Yellow Calendula
Rather more remarkable right now is the Spirea thunbergii ‘Ogon’ which is showing both lovely rust colored fall leaves combined with the white flowers of spring.
Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon’
The first flowers on the aubretia in the alpine bed are also coming out now.
Aubretia ‘Blue Beauty’
In the greenhouse the little hoop daffodils have been coming out.
Narcissus cantabricus ‘Peppermint’
Narcissus cantabricus ‘Peppermint’ (note the buds yet to come)
I think I definitely need to divide the bulbs in this pot next year.
I’ll close with the third pot of Daubenya stylosa that has flowered this year.
Daubenya stylosa
It will be interesting to see what this warm start to the winter portends for January and February…
Crazy isn’t it. I have quince in bloom and hoop narcissi in bud in the open garden. No bees though. That camellia is stunning, the colour and the form of the petals.
This GBBD doesn’t feel like December at all. Shouldn’t bees be hibernating and what would a deep freeze do to them?
The quince photo with the bee is wonderful!
That really does look more like March than December. Wow!
Love the narcissus, what a nice little thing t have in bloom over the winter, even during a warm one. I believe I have a few seeds of this type in the drawer, I should really get them in a pot.
Excellent photo of the bee!
I am sorry I miss these last wonderful flower displays from your place. Spring like to say the least! I was surprised to find an old Japanese quince at our new place; it also shows opening buds, no bees though 🙂
I am a bit scared about what will happen later in the winter, especially with so many plants still in active growth…
I do wish there was some sort of pause button that could be pressed in the garden right now, or better yet a giant thermostat that could be placed on “normal”.