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January Blooms at Tryon Palace

Happy New Year- Hindsight is finally 2020! 2020 was by far an unexpected year full of many difficult things- COVID to say the least- and a few good things too- renewed interests in outdoor activities, gardening, time with family. Here’s hoping that 2021 springs forth more positively as a whole and that you’re able to continue any gardening endeavors you began in 2020!

We’ve been busily taking down all of our holiday decorations and boxing them up for this year- Wait what?! Wildly enough, Candlelight decorations start being created in less than 5 months from now! While our weather has been a little all over the place and fairly mucky, we’re grateful it’s still allowing us to work on clearing our gardens from spent perennials and fallen leaves, as well as redoing some of our marl walkways! Our gardens are budding with excitement at this weather which makes us hold our breath a little since we're still probably due a frost or two. The gardens this time of year are a great reminder of the excitement to come and the beauty of the present gardens- more textures of green with pops of color from camellias, berries and hellebores!

If you’re looking for a New Year’s Resolution, consider joining us as a garden volunteer! We are looking for Master Gardeners, Horticulturists, Garden Enthusiasts, General Yard Workers, and Carpenters. Some background in gardening is great but none is necessary, just a willingness to learn. We are looking for volunteers for pruning, planting, raking, mulching, watering, weeding, fence and trellis repair. If you’re interested in volunteering with us, please contact me at hadley.cheris@ncdcr.gov.

We hope to see you soon! Happy Gardening,

Hadley Cheris, Tryon Palace Gardens and Greenhouse Manager

Annuals

Violas and pansies are a great winter cover for spring bulbs like tulips.
  • Annual Phlox (Phlox drummondii) mix
  • Dianthus- Super Parfait Raspberry, Zing Rose
  • Dusty Miller ‘Silver Dust’
  • Flowering Kale “Nagoya Rose”, “Songbird Mix”
  • Gazania ‘Tiger Mix’, ‘Pink Shades’, ‘Colorado’, ‘Sunny Side Up’, ‘New Magic’, ‘New Day Yellow’
  • Pansies: Cats Mix; Matrix Mix Sunrise; Delta Premium Mix
  • Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) various
  • Sweet William (Dianthus) Telstar Mix; red, white, pink
  • Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights’
  • Violas: Sorbet: Mix XP, Mix Ocean Breeze; Admire Maxi Mix; Penny: Mix All Seasons, White Blotch; Viola Frizzle Sizzle Mini Mix

Perennials

Leopard Plant is a great winter bloomer with year round shiny green foliage- and a great pollinator plant!
  • Algerian Iris (Iris ungularia) blue
  • Bears foot Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) yellowish
  • Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) white
  • Cape Leadwort (Plumbago capensis) blue
  • Carnation (Dianthus sp.) various
  • Creeping Veronica (Veronica umbrosa) blue
  • Daffodils, Jonquils (Narcissus sp.) yellow, white
  • Hellebore (Helleborus X orientalis) pink, white
  • Leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum) yellow
  • Ornamental Grass (Miscanthus sp.) red seed head
  • Paperwhite Narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus) white
  • Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemes) orange berries

Trees and Shrubs

Camellias and Mahonia (center) provide a variety of colors and textures in the winter landscape
  • Camellia (Camellia japonica) cultivars:

‘Pink Perfection’ pink, double

‘Professor Sargent’ deep rose, double

‘Debutante’ clear, light pink

‘Lady Clare’ carmine rose, semi-double

‘Alba plena’ white with pink cast

‘Lovely Surprise’ pink

‘Dr. Tinsley’ pink, semi-double

  • Camellia (Camellia sasanqua sp.) white & pink
  • Camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Setsugekka’) white
  • Camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’) red
  • Chinese Mahonia (Mahonia fortunei) yellow
  • Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) apricot pink, red
  • Fragrant Osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) yellow **Smells AMAZING**
  • Fragrant Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus praecox) yellow
  • Himalayan Sweetbox (Sarcococca hookerana) white, black drupe
  • Hollies (Ilex sp.) white
  • Leatherleaf Viburnum (Viburnum rhytophyllum) white
  • Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) pink to white
  • Tea plant (Camellia sinenses) white/yellow
  • Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorium) yellow
  • Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) white
  • Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) yellow to reddish brown

Berries and seeds: Bird Food

The tiny blooms of Fatsia provide for small pollinators such as flies, wasps and ants!
  • Hollies (Ilex sp.): Yaupon (I. vomitoria) red, yellow; Winterberry (I. verticillata) red; Dahoon (I. cassine) red; Dwarf Burford Holly (Ilex cornuta) red berries
  • Nandina (Nandina domestica) red, yellow
  • Japanese Fatsia (Fatsia japonica) green to black
  • Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa) orange-red

Kitchen Garden:

Members of the Brassica family, like broccoli, kale and cabbage, provide the majority of cold weather vegetable crops.
  • Cover crops- crimson clover, mustard, rye, white clover
  • Beets, carrots, lettuce, mustards, kale, parsley, Swiss chard, spinach, arugula, fava beans, artichoke, cardoon, brussel sprouts, cabbage, collards
Created By
Hadley Cheris
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