I took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday and I noticed some things blooming. Despite some very cold spells this past winter the flowers are coming fast and furious.

While my main focus for current and future gardening is native plants there are non-native ornamentals that add color in the winter.

Very few things bloom in January. Snowdrops are often starting to flower then. In mild years, some crocus, Pieris japonica, and hardy calendulas might be blooming. Hellebores also start blooming for us in January some years.

By the time February rolls through the snowdrops, hellebores, and Pieris are in full bloom. Toward the end of the month, Forsythia might be blooming and the winter hazels are starting to open. Crocus make a big show in February and the early narcissi are right behind. Camellias love a dry, warm February–they will burst into a riot of sometimes obnoxious color. Daphne laureola might be in bloom and might be adding a sweet fragrance as it colonizes innocent ground. Bergenia plants, usually hideously ragged after the winter wind and rain, throw up bright pink spikes in February. The rarer white and light pink forms are much prettier in flower but equally hideous in leaf.

Recently, the Erodium ‘Sweetheart’ plants I grew from Chiltern seeds are blooming shyly in February. Iberis will bloom this month, too, and Aubrieta. Corydalis solida will sometimes get some flowers open just at the end of the month, setting off the beautiful fresh mass of blue-green leaves.