Gardening in a changing climate
Flowering together
Plants can often flower at unexpected times of the year, as our image shows
The garden plants in this image - all in bud or bloom - were collected at RHS Garden Wisley on 27 February 2007. It illustrates the diversity of garden plants that can be found flowering at the same time, given a mild season.
Some, such as rosemary, usually flower in late winter, while others such as rose or Osteospermum are associated with spring or summer but increasingly are seen flowering at other times of year.The 'standard'/normally quoted flowering time is given in brackets.
1 Osteospermum ‘Trewidden Pink’ (early summer - mid-autumn)
2 Vinca minor ‘La Grave’ (late spring - summer)
3 Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Sissinghurst Blue’ (spring)
4 Leucojum aestivum (spring)
5 Magnolia x soulangeana (spring)
6 Photinia davidiana (spring)
7 Lithodora zahnii (late spring - early summer)
8 Ranunculus creticus (spring)
9 Rosa ‘Flower Carpet Coral’ (summer - to mid-autumn)
10 Spiraea thunbergii (late winter - spring)
11 Ribes sanguineum ‘Tydeman’s White’ (mid-spring)
12 Magnolia stellata (early to mid-spring)
13 Lathraea clandestina (spring)
14 Ypsilandra thibetica (late winter - spring)
15 Lithodora diffusa ‘Star’ (summer)