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February flowering

Maxine WinterMaxine Winter Posts: 55
in Plants
Good morning guys, I am looking for a plant that flowers in February that I can cut to take to my fathers memorial plaque. So far the only one I can seem to find is a camellia, but I don’t know if that will flower early enough in February for me to cut a few off. Here’s hoping you can help ❤️💋

Posts

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Why not try snowdrops or miniature narcissi in pots? The double snowdrops are very pretty, or if you seek them out, (look up Galanthus), you can find taller ones or others with different markings, even 'yellow' ones at a price(!) if you want something more special. They are best bought 'in the green' and now is the right time of year to buy them :)
    Some narcissi varieties flower earlier than others so choose one of those that you like and you could always force it a little by bringing it indoors for a few days if the weather is being especially cold and unhelpful.
    Either of these options would be more reliable than camellias, which would take a long time to grow large enough to start chopping bits off and are anyway at the mercy of the wind, rain and  frost that often spoil their flowers. They would also last longer as a memorial.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Hellebores? I don't know how long they last as cut flowers though. For shrubs, have a look at winter-flowering shrubby honeysuckle, sarcococca, witch hazel. None of them are especially showy flowers though, they're grown more for scent.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Hellebores, particularly orientalis, are excellent cut flowers. They have a variable flowering period between February and April, so you might want to go to a garden centre and pick forms that flower early. In my garden the earliest ones are reliable February flowers. Helleborus niger also flowers early but is a bit less reliable. There are also varieties of Camellia that flower in February, just write to somewhere that specialises in them like Trehane nursery (https://www.trehanenursery.co.uk/Default.asp) and they will advise you. One that often flowers very early is Camellia sasanqua, but its flowers are less suitable for picking. 
  • Maxine WinterMaxine Winter Posts: 55
    @Cambridgerose12 thank you so much, whatever I buy they don’t need to last a long time once I have cut them and taken them to my fathers memorial plaque just a day or two but I need a perennial that can grow in a north facing garden. 
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Hellebores will do you fine. They need to be in shade.
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