So here we are again. It’s December. It’s cold. We’re putting our winter woolies on at last. The garden has changed in the past few weeks. There are plenty of leaves to collect and the oak trees are still decorated with golden leaves so I’ll probably be raking up leaves all December too.

My two winter flowering shrubs Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ are both flowering beautifully. The one lightly pruned by greedy cattle has almost caught up with the other non-nibbled one.
I’ve positioned them carefully, one on either side of a stone path to visually link one side of the Spring Garden with the other. You can just about see them in the photo above. There’s a haze of pink behind the yew hedge (directly above the leaning teasel) and the other one is right next to my garden studio.

It’s best to get up close to see the detail. The tubular flowers are tiny and highly scented.

This shrub is more like a small tree really. It’s not wide or spreading like so many other Viburnums. It sends the main branches upwards so it doesn’t take up much space. The blossom appears in November as the leaves are falling. Buds are deep pink at first, pale pink on opening then they gradually fade to white. These shrubs just keep on flowering all winter. I love looking up at their twiggy pinkness, especially on a crisp cold day with a backdrop of golden oak leaves and clear blue sky.

If you want to know more about what to plant with Viburnums then you may also like to read January Flowers

If you love country gardens then I hope that you enjoy this.
I appreciate your comments and I will try to answer all your questions. Thanks for visiting.

THANK YOU. MERCI. TACK. KIITOS. TAK. DANK U. DANKE. DZIEKUJE. OBRIGADO. GRAZIE. GRACIAS.

Hope to see you again soon.    Gillian  😉