Around the Gardens: Winter Highlights

Visit soon! Many of our Asian favorites are standouts this season.

 By Molly Hendry

What it is: Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis)
What we love about it: This evergreen groundcover sends up its blooms with their nodding heads in the middle of winter, a favorite in the garden for both us and the bees.
Where to find it: Southern Living Garden
 

What it is: Camellia (Camellia japonica)
What we love about it: The large blooms of camellias against the deep glossy green of their leaves. As our official state flower, this camellia is one of the best ways to ring in the new year.
Where to find it: Hess Camellia Garden

What it is: Paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha)
What we love about it: You will often smell the blooms of paperbush before you see them. Their silvery buds burst forth with buttery yellow blooms at the beginning of February, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Where to find it: Curry Rhododendron Garden

What it is: Okame Cherry Tree (Prunus x incamp ‘Okame’)
What we love about it: This hybrid cherry is a herald of spring, one of the first blooms at the tail end of winter.
Where to find it: Japanese Garden near tea house

What it is: Weeping Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara)
What we love about it: This conifer is a graceful figure in the winter garden with its arching form, adding a structural backbone to the garden.
Where to find it: Abroms Rhododendron Garden

What it is: Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)
What we love about it: The brittle zigzaggy stems contrast with delicate blooms in a variety of shades including white, pink, red, and peach at the beginning of February.
Where to find it: Japanese Garden