January Blooms 2013

Hello yellow! Hello you beauties that brave the strange weather we call winter in Middle Tennessee. Hello garden bloggers and welcome to Clay and Limestone's itty bitty Bloom Day show!

I have a few blooms for Bloom Day, but this daffodil is by far my favorite. All my daffs have poked out of the ground, but, one little patch in the sunniest spot in my garden decided to take advantage of the unusually warm, sunny day between the rain events to say hello to the day. The sunny yellow against the blue sky makes me happy.

Helleborus Winter Jewels™ 'Cotton Candy' is new to Clay and Limestone. So new, she's still in her black nursery container safe on the porch from the frizzle (frozen drizzle) we had last night. I am sure she will be a beautiful addition to the garden and compliment the Helleborus orientalis that should be blooming any day now!

Everything is covered with a layer of ice and Helleborus x'Jacob' looks like a wax flower. 

He didn't look too beat up the day before after almost 4 inces of rain. This is a hellebore I've admired for a long time and when I saw him offered for sale at Trader Joes I scooped him up.  I should have scooped up three or five!  Woulda, shoulda, coulda! I've read that H niger hybrids are especially picky about soil conditions and thought that a container made the most sense. So contained he is. I like him a lot already.

Forlorn Frieda should be the name of my only blooming viola! She looks so downcast after pummeling rains and frizzle! She'll perk up when the sun comes back. I love that about violas!

Last, but certainly not least!

Frost Flowers continue to bloom on and off on warmer days that are followed by freezing nights. I've written about Frost Flowers here and about Verbesina virginica here.

Happy Bloom Day and thank you for stopping by.  Now head over to May Dreams Gardens and hostess with the mostest Carol's global bloom extravaganza for the magic carpet ride to more blooming flowers then you could imagine on this cold and gray winter day!

Keep warm and safe out there.
xxoogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.