I live right smack in the middle of zones 7 & 8 - we have only lived here 1 year (lived in SW Florida my whole life) so I am trying to learn what snow and ice does to flowers you spend hours planting!!! :-D Last winter the only thing that survived the winter here (1 snow, couple ice storms) were Pansies - does anyone have any other suggestions as to what I could plant with them? Like I said earlier, I am a Florida girl - use to bright beautiful colors - the pansies are great and at least gave me some color through winter but I would really like some other things as well if there are any!!! Thanks so much for any suggestions!!!
Hi Sandy, I'm a native Floridian too, but I've been living and gardening in zone 8 N.C. for the last 20 yrs. When the fall and winter comes, I would NOT want to be without Camellias! The fall-blooming Sasanquas will begin to flower in mid-October and put on a great show for about 4-6 weeks, often still flowering well past Thanksgiving. I also love the "Encore" Azaleas which bloom in the spring, but ALSO bloom again in the fall. This picture was taken in Mid-November, My largest Camellia sasanqua (more than 30 feet across) with "Encore" Azaleas flowering beneath. Then the showier Japonicas will begin to open sometime in late Feb. continuing for several months, depending on the variety. That leaves me with a shorter "low-flower" span of time which I can just about manage to live through, with the help of pansies, snapdragons, potted Amaryllis and my precious glasshouse. Oh, and the Camellias are beautiful evergreen shrubs, which helps, too.
ZUZU - Wow!!! Thanks for all that! I just printed that out and will begin my hunt for some of these this weekend!! Thanks again!!! WOOO HOOO!!!
You're very welcome - I'm sure that you'll get some other wonderful ideas from the great gardeners here. I'll be watching this thread for more ideas as well, because like you, just the thought of a day without flowers gives me the heebie-jeebies!!
What a show off!! Those are gorgeous!! Poor little old me, out here in Southern Oregon will not see a flower for MONTHS as soon as the bad weather hits. It even gets too cold for pansys and mums. Not much grows under the snow But, we always have Amaryllis and my geraniums that I bring into my office windows. Deanna :-D
