Monday 13 January 2014

01 Winter Jasmine

And wouldn't you know it, just as you commit to doing something stuff happens to mess it up for you! I was there with my first 'Flowering in my garden today' entry when my camera went weird and set itself on Auto landscape, so won't focus on anything closer than about 10ft!


Now Winter Jasmine or Jasminum nudiflorum (the nudiflorum means that it flowers on bare stems - the leaves only appear once the flowers are over) is a splash of colour indeed, but from 10ft away it's not so impressive. So these shots are taken on my phone - not ideal but better than nothing.

This Jasmine is well travelled - it was a gift from my Nan when my husband and I moved into our first home in London in 1997. She was unimpressed by it (I chose it) and castigated it as a stick, but the following January she admitted that it was worth the wait. It was in a pot next to the front door, a perfect position for enjoying the cascade of little starry flowers. 

When we moved down to Cornwall 'Nan's stick' came with us and was planted in the ground as close to the front door as possible. Jasmines are hardy plants, suited to sun/partial shade and this one has survived where other plants might have faded. It is doing fine, but is a little too overshadowed by a Vibernum and has never taken off as I would like. I think I shall do some Vibernum pruning, give it a little more space/light and a good feed over the spring/summer and hopefully it will take off a little more enthusiastically.

Despite a battering by the wind and rain it still has lots of buds and will be flowering for the rest of the month at least, then the pretty trifoliate leaves will appear like a curtain swooping down across the wall up which it is trained.

This cheery little flower is a beautiful precursor of the larger and more showy offerings of Daffodils etc that are just just around the corner. It is the suggestion of Spring to come.

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