Here come the holidays and with that comes the beautiful blooms of the beloved Yuletide Camellia. This beautiful cool weather bloomer is a Hampton Roads must-have with its warm, red flowers and glossy evergreen foliage. This shrub is a beautiful addition to the garden year-round, giving blooms at a time of year when not much else is blooming. Yuletide's red flowers stand out in high contrast against glossy, dark green foliage making quite the statement in your landscape. A moderate grower, this evergreen shrub will grow to approximately 8-10 feet tall and with an upright growth habit.
by Kathy Van Mullekom, a lifelong gardener and gardening writer living in York County, Virginia
Bulbs are too often afterthoughts in the garden. It’s wrong thinking, something I’ve been guilty of, too. For years, I ignored bulbs. Then, I became the energized owner of a woodsy garden where I envisioned a river of daffodils blooming in early spring. Over the course of several falls, hubby Ken and I dug holes and planted thousands of spring-flowering daffodils.
What flower has a face, is edible, blooms in both spring and fall and comes in the widest range of colors? If you guest pansies, you are right! Pansies are one of the best ways to add color to those 6 months of cooler Hampton Roads weather that we experience from October thru March. These tough, vibrant flowers come in all the colors of the rainbow ~ including red, purple, blue, bronze, pink, black, yellow, white, lavender, orange, apricot and mahogany. Pansies are easy to grow, are hardy and provide a burst of cool weather color. Pansies can be used in a variety of ways.
