This Petasites japonica has been living in a pot outdoors, but I did bring it into the garage during the coldest days this past winter -- so mainly outdoors. It's cold-hardy enough to survive our winters (especially this mild one) but I wasn't going to take any chances with it, and it was simple enough to slide into the garage when needed.
I've not seen its flower before, so I was excited to see the bud developing over the past few weeks. I can't say it's the showiest bloom I've ever seen though:
It is always fun to see what plants you haven't grown before will do: when they bloom, how early in spring they wake up, what the tender new growth looks like. It's exciting!
No scent coming from these as far as I can tell, but when it blooms in winter does it really expect to attract pollinators? I have seen a fair amount of flying insects recently though, including a bee while I was spreading mulch this past weekend. So maybe it does expect to attract pollinators.
I mentioned that there were two plants flowering: the second set of blooms is far from scentless:
I noticed the flowers had opened not by sight, but by the wall of fragrance that hit me when I walked into the room the other night.
I love the way the petals curl back when the bloom opens:
This smallish Sansevieria had sent up the flower stalk probably two months ago, and I was doubting that the blooms would ever open.
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| Anybody know what species of Sansevieria this is? |
They open up in the evening, producing the strongest scent -- believe me, it's strong!
I'm glad it does this in the evening, because my desk is nearby and I wouldn't be able to work in the same room -- it's a pleasant scent but just too strong. By morning the fragrance has diminished quite a bit.
So I've got a couple of nice blooming plants at a time when the first crocus are just starting to push themselves onto the scene. A nice surprise!
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What a pretty little blooms and to have a fragrance on long winter days is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteI love the Petasites bloom! And excellent photos of the Sansevieria bloom. I was shocked when mine bloomed a couple of years ago, so fragrant and so sticky!
ReplyDeleteThose are really pretty.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be able to handle a strong scent, either. But, the flower is gorgeous.
Funny that I'm such a succulent fanatic and yet I don't have a single sansevieria! And I've certainly never seen one bloom. Very nice, actually!
ReplyDeleteAnd I had to Google Petasites japonicus. Whoa, what leaves! I want one now, but our climate is way too dry. It probably wouldn't grow here any more than gunneras do.
I'm seeing a lot of plants come up as well now such as all the garlics, lots of tree peony seedlings, crocus bulbs, tulips, daffodils, string of hearts and many I don't know the name to. It should only get better seeing how good the forecast is for the beginning of March.
ReplyDeletePetasites look pretty cool right when they come out, but I don't have that one yet.