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The first flowers of spring are beginning to open, a sure sign that spring is
on its way. In reality it’s the last flowers of winter that are beginning to
open, but that doesn’t sound quite as warm and cheerful.
Generally, the first plants that begin to bloom are what we call the woody
plants, or the trees and shrubs. Many bloom well before the first official
day of spring. They are typically followed by the beautiful and colorful
spring flowering bulbs. Trailing the pack in bloom sequence are the perennial
flowers that will begin blooming one by one as March fades into April, then
May.
Perennial flowers have remained one of the most popular groups of gardening
plants. But the first major group of plants I fell in love with and began to
study in college was the woody plants. I can remember keeping a bloom
sequence chart, writing down the plant name and the date I first observed any
plant in flower. We were supposed to begin it in the middle of January, but I
didn’t begin my chart until around the middle of February because I naively
thought nothing bloomed before then. Turns out I had missed out on quite a
few things.
Leatherleaf mahonia
One of the earliest is a beautiful evergreen plant for the shade, Mahonia
bealei, leatherleaf mahonia. This thorny, shrubby plant has slightly
glossy green leaves year-round. Typically in late January, but more commonly
in February, you will begin to see the yellow clusters of flowers begin to
show their color. This long-blooming shrub can grow 6 to 10 feet tall, and I
have observed them in bloom for more than a month, well into March. The
flowers are followed by beautiful green fruit berries, which hang in a cluster
much like a grape cluster. The berries change color to dark blue in early
June and remain all summer.
Flowering quince
Another winter bloomer, Chaenomeles speciosa, flowering quince, is
considered a gangly shrubby mess for the majority of the year. I can remember
being toured around a woman’s garden early one March and she stopped to tell
me about the flowering quince that was in bloom. The flowers were white and
it was a smaller plant than most quince I had observed. She described its
beauty with such grace and love that I fell in love with this plant right
then and there. The quince in her garden was ‘Jet Trail,’ which grows only 3
or so feet tall. They are much easier to handle in a small garden as most
quince grow 6 to 10 feet tall or taller. This old-fashioned plant is
typically seen with flower colors that are pink to apricot, and begin
blooming in late February or early March in Kentucky.
Japanese apricot
One of the first trees to bloom in the winter is Prunus mume, Japanese
apricot. The Chinese considered the flowers a symbol of winter and the
Japanese considered the flowers a symbol of spring. This flower is also a
symbol of resilience and perseverance, and can be seen frequently in Japanese
and Chinese art. The Japanese apricot is not a common tree to our area but it
can be found on occasion. The flowers can be white or pink, depending on the
cultivar. Because of the time of year that this tree flowers, unexpected
rough weather or severe cold at full bloom can severely damage the flowers.
Perhaps it is our unpredictable weather that keeps this tree from popularity
in our area.
Shelly
Nold is a horticulturist and owner of The Plant Kingdom. Send your gardening
stories or ideas to Shelly Nold, The Plant Kingdom, 4101 Westport Road,
Louisville, KY 40207.
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