During the gray winter months, I really notice plants that provide pops of color. This holiday, several friends sent out a card that said, "Some of our Favorite Things," which got me thinking about some favorite winter plants that provide color when most others are dormant:
CITRUS TREES provide bright dots of orange and yellow color during winter. Passing by this Tangerine and Meyer Lemon tree on a cold January morning, I appreciate how beautiful the color is against the gray sky and wet ground:
CAMELLIAS are not really a year-round fav, but bursting with blooms all winter, I look forward to their annual display as they're often the only flower blooming strong then. They come in many varieties of white, fuchsia, pink and bicolors, below are just two examples. I love the petal color against the deep green leaf, and also when they sprinkle the ground with fallen petals and their golden center:
Some evergreen plants will brighten up their leaves in the cold temps after the fall displays of their deciduous counterparts have passed and turned to bare wood. This is the case with the rusty leaves of purple NANDINA and the limelight foliage of CHOISYA 'sundance':
The ALOE 'safari rose' probably appreciates the warmth of the greenhouse it lives in where I found it with tall, full coral flower stalks, and maybe it wouldn't be as happy out in the cold but I snapped a shot of it because of it's bold confidence! And like the others, this ERICA 'springwood pink' also gets brighter in the cold temps of winter and stands out:
While winter is not my favorite time of year, I appreciate the presence of some favorite things that I may take for granted the rest of the year like flowers, color, fruit and pairing well with a gray, soggy background! Here's to a healthy winter and an early spring!