Finding Inspiration for Your Garden | Opinion

It is easy to inspire to grow new plants. Inspiration can come from travel, books, magazines, or other gardens. You can also find inspiration in the most unlikely places.

The other day, I placed one of the US Postal Service’s “Snowy Beauty” stamps on a piece of mail. Always looking for new plants, I studied all 10 prints. These prints are designed by Gregory Manchess and feature plants that bloom in the cold: pansy, grape hyacinths, daffodils, camellia, crocus, winter aconite, hellebore, winterberry , ranunculus and plum.

Some of these are commonly grown here, some are not. For example, pansies bloom in East Texas all winter long. Grape hyacinths and daffodils bloom in early spring. If the right variety is chosen, they will multiply. Every spring, naturalized daffodils bloom along the roads. Grape hyacinths have spread across one of my flower beds, and I love seeing them bloom every spring.

Camellia also does well in East Texas. It is beautiful even when it is not in bloom, as it remains evergreen. Crocus is an early spring flowering bulb that is a joy to behold. However, cheer up if they come back for you as Texas A&M AgriLife says they just do well in the Texas panhandle. The rest of the state does not provide an adequate amount of frost hours, so they are only reliable in zones 4 through 7.

Winter aconite has bright yellow flowers. Unfortunately, it’s another winter plant that doesn’t do well in East Texas. For yellow flowers in spring, consider growing daffodils, forsythia, yellow iris, or Carolina jessamine.

Hellebores will come back if you choose the proper variety. It likes a shady part and moist and well-draining soil. When they are happy, they bloom for months.

Winterberry (Ilex verticulata) is a shrub that grows to 12 meters high. Deciduous, red berries stand out on bare stems. Winterberry appreciates moisture and can be planted in winter as a hedge or accent plant. She is a native of East Texas. Also native to East Texas, Possumhaw holly gives the same effect.

Ranunculus can be grown in East Texas, although some say they are best grown as an annual. Choose the right species and if you are lucky, the corms will not. If you are not lucky, enjoy it for the short time you can.

The last bloom on the ‘Snowy Beauty’ collection is plum, another bloom commonly seen in East Texas. Some plums are grown for their fruit, while others are grown for their ornamental foliage. Both will bloom in spring.

It’s easy to find inspiration for your garden. The hard part is squeezing all the plants you want into the space you have.

For more information, call 903-675-6130, email hendersonCMGA@gmail.comor visit txmg.org/hendersonmg.