Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day: Surprise Flowers
If spring to summer blooms isn't that much of a stretch of the imagination, then winter/spring to summer might just do it in the shape of this hellebore. It's so comfortable in what it's doing, it's put out another bud since I first spotted it in flower. This is one of a new batch I planted out last year, which were just small plugs when I got them. A few flowered at their allotted time in January, but many more didn't, which I put down to them not being mature enough. Perhaps it's showing it's all grown up now?
I've been pondering the reason(s) why these flowers are blooming so far out of their season. Sometimes mild weather can extend the flowering season (as seen here previously), but these are spontaneous flowerings rather than continued ones. It's not unusual for my apples to bloom a little in autumn, especially after a dry summer. I think that might be the clue here too: you may remember I said my 'Herefordshire Russet' apple was showing signs of stress when I wrote about June Drop last month. Here, my 'Red Windsor' is probably showing another sign of the stress of that time (and I guess that's the story with the hellebore too). Now we've had a good drop of rain, it's decided to bloom again; the tree's instinct for self-preservation has kicked in. I'll keep an eye on whether the blossom starts to form into fruits - I've tied some wool to the branch so I know where to look in future. Whether April/May's drought has longer term implications for next year's blossom has yet to be seen.
Do you have any surprise flowers in your garden this month?
Do you have any surprise flowers in your garden this month?
Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
