December 15, and what is blooming? Not much. We are having an unusually warm spell (60 degrees!) and continuous drizzle, though I’ve braved the elements to get these few images. And I’m finally learning that the only thing normal about Cincinnati weather is . . . that it is never normal!

Above, the intrepid perennial Hellebore. This one is Helleborus Cinnamon Snow (TM). I’m expecting it to keep blooming through next March, at least, if it behaves like it did last year. Below is just a seedling of Black-eyed-Susan, or Rudbeckia sp. Obviously, the seedlings are more tenacious than the cultivars!

I could only find these two flowering plants to photograph. Luckily we have evergreens, berries and seedheads to keep our interest. And since the berries and seedheads developed from flowers, I’ll show you a couple on this bloom day to round out my post.

The bright red berry cluster is on a Heavenly bamboo shrub, Nandina domestica. This plant is marginally hardy here in zone 5, but does well in this protected spot against the east wall of the house.

The seedheads below left are on the perennial Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’, which grows in front of the Nandina.

On the right are the seedheads of the wonderful, blue-spiked chaste tree, Vitex angustifolia, best grown as a shrub in our zone.

Happy Bloom Day and Happy Gardening!

Sue

Share this article

Related posts: