Winter Aconites

This spring has really tested my toughness. It’s likely it has tested yours too, particularly if you are in the Northern Plains or parts of eastern Canada that were hit by ‘Winter Storm Xanto’. Even though my weather isn’t as mild as it could be, it seems to have finally stopped snowing. It’s true that Spring is slow in coming, but it’s, one beautiful flower at a.

It is important to plant as many flowers as you can in the early spring. Take pictures of the first place where snow melts and Plant your earliest blooming flowers there. This concept is so important for me as a gardener in a cold climate that I have decided to create a series of blog posts featuring the first blooming flowers. By the end of a long, cold winter we barely hang on. Spring fever will ease faster if we see some flowers in bloom. Many gardeners don’t know how many flowers are in bloom during the mud season. This nebulous time between winter and spring is often referred to as mud. I will be discussing them in this series, one genus per time. The first is winter aconites.

Winter aconites , also known as Eranthis, can frustrate you, just like they did me. ).

Aconites in winter are my favorite! (Eranthis hyemalis)

A kind friend gave me some “in green” after I had successfully grown them in high-school. When my sister moved from New York to the Finger lakes, I asked her for some when they started growing like weeds in her flower beds. Now I should be brave and divide the plants. Some seedlings are also visible, but they’re often killed by chickens scratching my garden beds or by gardeners who want to plant one more thing.

This lovely plant was acquired a few year ago but it is only now that its semi-doubleness has been revealed. ( Eranthis Hyemalis “Flore Pleno”

It did not bloom until I moved it to a more sunny spot. It doesn’t get full sun, but it does have more than before. Winter aconites are best grown from patches that already have flowers. You can order some from Old House Gardens if you don’t have a friend who grows them. They take special care not to let the corms dry out. After you’ve managed to get your patch growing, take a look at these species and varieties.