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Award winner author of gardening humor books

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May Dreams Gardens

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – December 2015

December 15, 2015 By Carol Michel 40 Comments

Helleborus niger ‘Josef Lemper’

Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for December 2015.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, we are in the midst of the tail end of a warm spell of record high temperatures.

On both Saturday and Sunday we had temps in the high 60s, which is about 30 degrees warmer than usual.

This mild weather has resulted in the beautiful display of the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, as nice as I’ve ever seen.

Some little snowdrops I planted earlier this fall popped unexpectedly a week or so ago and look pretty good for December.

And there was one single Camellia bloom on the ‘Snow Flurry’ camellia.

I’m still watching the flower buds on another Camellia ‘April Remembered’.

If a watched bud never opens, then this one is going to remain tightly closed for quite some time.  But I won’t complain.  The Camellias are marginally hardy for my garden so having any bloom, any bud is enough for me.

Inside, as usual, I have amaryllis blooms almost ready to pop open, just in time for Christmas.

What’s blooming in your garden on this lovely December day?  We’d love to have you join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and show us. It’s easy to participate. Just post on your blog about what’s blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month, or thereabouts, then leave your link in the Mr. Linky widget below and a comment to tell us what you have waiting for us to see.

And remember,

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: garden bloggers bloom day

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. HELENE says

    December 15, 2015 at 5:10 am

    Thanks for hosting again Carol, for once it seems like we have the same weather both over here and in US – warm with season confused plants. I have hellebores and snowdrops in flower too, and I saw on the news today that there are daffodils in flower here.

    Reply
  2. Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening says

    December 15, 2015 at 5:37 am

    It certainly has been an interesting December with record high temperatures here on Long Island as well. Some of the plants are even confused and sending out new growth. I enjoyed viewing your Hellebores and Camellia still flowering! Thanks for hosting!

    Reply
  3. outlawgardener says

    December 15, 2015 at 5:48 am

    What nice winter surprises in your garden! We've had record rains here so everything is quite wet most of the time but there are still a few blooms happening outside in my garden. Thank you, Carol, for being our steadfast host and for inviting everyone to the party! Happy GBBD!

    Reply
  4. Marti says

    December 15, 2015 at 7:41 am

    You've got some nice blooms right now, especially considering your location.

    Reply
  5. VP says

    December 15, 2015 at 9:27 am

    It's interesting to see you have early snowdrops too Carol. Mine are flowering earlier than ever this year.

    Happy Blooms Day everyone and season's greetings to you and yours.

    Reply
  6. Covegirl says

    December 15, 2015 at 11:33 am

    lovely!

    Reply
  7. Pauline says

    December 15, 2015 at 11:47 am

    We too are having such warm temperatures for a while now, even night temperatures are far higher than they should be. Lots of plants are confused, but I am just enjoying their flowers and hoping we don't get a frost to spoil them.

    Reply
  8. Sofie says

    December 15, 2015 at 11:53 am

    Thanks for hosting Carol! I love the little snowdrop! It looks so cute. I have a lot of blooming carnations in my garden and some other plants too. Come and look at my garden, I'm on number 11.

    Greetings, Sofie
    http://sofies-succulent-beads.blogspot.be/

    Reply
  9. rusty duck says

    December 15, 2015 at 12:18 pm

    An extremely mild start to the season here in the UK as well Carol. It's not often we get to see roses and witch hazel flowering on the same day. Good luck with the camellia. My experience is that the buds take a tantalisingly long time to open!

    Reply
  10. Denise says

    December 15, 2015 at 12:47 pm

    I'm not complaining about the weather. Us old timers like not having to worry about slipping on snow and ice. Thanks for hosting this blog hop. I am so glad I found you and the other gardeners.

    Reply
  11. Lisa at Greenbow says

    December 15, 2015 at 1:09 pm

    Your camillias are an inspiration.

    Reply
  12. Cerberus German shepherds says

    December 15, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    Thanks for hosting, I saw where you ready for winter to begin….I however am loving it…….

    Reply
  13. Tina says

    December 15, 2015 at 1:48 pm

    It seems that everyone is enjoying(?) a mild late fall, early winter. I imagine the cold will come though. Meanwhile, enjoy your snowdrops and the lone Camellia! Thanks for hosting GBBD.

    Reply
  14. CommonWeeder says

    December 15, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    The weather here has been amazingly mild, and while I do have unexpectedly green coral bells foliage in the garden, all I have indoors is my dependable Christmas cactus. Now that we are in our new house and making improvements the situation may be very different next winter.

    Reply
  15. Rose says

    December 15, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    Your camellias are beautiful! These warm temps have been nice, but I think I'm ready for a little snow for Christmas–notice, I said a "little." Thanks for hosting once again, Carol!

    Reply
  16. Kris Peterson says

    December 15, 2015 at 3:28 pm

    I'm glad you've seen at least one Camellia bloom. Here in Southern California, I've only seen one bloom on my C. japonica myself but the C. sasanqua is blooming its heart out. Thanks for hosting Carol!

    Reply
  17. danger garden says

    December 15, 2015 at 4:20 pm

    Such beautiful white blooms you have! I finally spotted buds on my Hellebores but it's a long time until they open.

    Reply
  18. Anna says

    December 15, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    That's a beautiful hellebore Carol. 'Christmas Carol' seems to be the main helleborus niger for sale here but I will be on the look out for 'Josef Lemper'. No post from me this month as it has just been too dark to get out to take photos 🙁 Just wanted to say thank you for once again being such a great hostess this year as well as to wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. May all your blooms prosper!

    Reply
  19. Brenda Lynn says

    December 15, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    Hard to believe it's really December over here in northern Virginia! It feels like Florida. Nature is confused!

    Reply
  20. MulchMaid says

    December 15, 2015 at 6:45 pm

    I like that Camellia "Snow Flurry'! In the spirit of the season, I have my old faithful C. "Yuletide" blooming this month. Thank you for holding Bloom Day for us!

    Reply
  21. WashingtonGardener says

    December 15, 2015 at 7:42 pm

    Ha! I picked the same Hellebore to feature as you for this bloom day. Have a wonderful holiday season and a new year's 2016!

    Reply
  22. Alana says

    December 15, 2015 at 10:58 pm

    We have something in common – I am trying to grow one of the April series of camillas but my garden is in zone 5b on the edge of the New York State snowbelt. Loved your Lenten Rose. Thank you for hosting GBBD once again and may you have a wonderful 2016.

    Reply
  23. Sue C. says

    December 15, 2015 at 11:01 pm

    With so many plants still flowering in December hopefully winter will seem short this year. Joining in with your meme but I failed the Linky widget test – still learning!

    Reply
  24. Kathy says

    December 16, 2015 at 1:49 am

    I love it when pushing one's zone pays off. May you see camellia blooms for many years to come!

    Reply
  25. Unknown says

    December 16, 2015 at 1:58 am

    I am envious of your upward facing white hellebore! It is so pretty! The Camelia is as well but I can't grow that here in zone 5b.

    Reply
  26. Christopher C. NC says

    December 16, 2015 at 2:11 am

    I went looking for snowdrops thinking this warm would make them come up. Not a one to be found. Hellebores? Nope. Not even buds. I vote for winter to begin now.

    Reply
  27. Indie says

    December 16, 2015 at 2:19 am

    It's been warm here in Massachusetts too, and I was so excited to see my new Hellebore in bloom. Your camellia is beautiful! They are such beautiful flowers. Thanks for hosting, Carol!

    Reply
  28. Nic says

    December 16, 2015 at 3:42 am

    I am very impressed with your camellias. Are those varieties supposed to be particularly hardy? Maybe they would be worth a try here.

    Reply
  29. Shirley/Rock-Oak-Deer says

    December 16, 2015 at 4:10 am

    It's wonderful to see blooms in your December garden.

    Beautiful!

    Reply
  30. Amy@SmallSunnyGarden says

    December 16, 2015 at 7:28 am

    It's just lovely to see your hellebore, and certainly the camellias are sooo special… what a beautiful treat for December!

    Reply
  31. Unknown says

    December 16, 2015 at 7:49 am

    Nice camellias 🙂

    Reply
  32. Dee Nash says

    December 16, 2015 at 6:13 pm

    That camellia is worth all the tea in China. Happy Bloom Day my friend. I made it. Barely.~~Dee

    Reply
  33. John says

    December 17, 2015 at 1:18 am

    Looking ahead it seems that we have another 10 days of this incredibly warm weather. I'm wondering if the other members of the Camellia clan (you know the ones that should be flowering next April) will begin to flower as well.

    Reply
  34. Kathy says

    December 17, 2015 at 3:29 am

    P.S. If anyone visited coldclimategardening.com and found that comments were closed on my GBBD post, please come back and try again. Comments were not supposed to be closed and I opened them back up again.

    Reply
  35. Anonymous says

    December 17, 2015 at 3:51 am

    Carol, I'm so amazed that you have outdoor blooms in December. What a treat to have the Christmas rose blooming at Christmastime! Although we are also having unseasonably warm weather in Maine, it's not that warm, so I have only indoor blooms to share. -Jean

    Reply
  36. Daniel Gasteiger says

    December 17, 2015 at 8:09 am

    Late, again, to Bloom Day; was visiting my 96-yr-old dad…

    In central PA, where we usually have frozen soil and at least ice if not snow by early December, we still have flowers surviving outdoors. I ignored them this Bloom Day to show off some faux flowers from fog.

    Reply
  37. Evan Bean says

    December 17, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    Those hellebores are lovely. Helleborus niger is harder to find in my area, and it's expensive, too. I think I need to make the investment for those beautiful winter blooms, though.

    Reply
  38. Pam's English Garden says

    December 19, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    A bit late, sorry, Carol. As I said in my posting, I wish I had hellebores and snowdrops, but I did have some tiny blooms on this unusually mild bloom day. Thanks for hosting. P. x

    Reply
  39. Andy says

    December 19, 2015 at 11:23 pm

    Annnd now it's cold again… 🙁

    On the bright side, it's supposed to get a bit warmer again during this week. Or I suppose maybe that's not such a bright side, if you were hoping to have a white Christmas.

    Reply
  40. Flower Alley says

    December 22, 2015 at 1:00 am

    I struggled to post here. My widget was naughty. Now as I read all the other lovely blogs, I see a familiar face three times…mine! Please forgive my persistent ignorance. Hi Ho!

    Reply

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