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Oct/Nov/Dec

Spindle fruits in October

There are relatively few wild flowers that first start flowering in October,

November and December.

There are plenty of plants still 'out' after starting to flower earlier in the year.

These numbers steadily decline towards December.

Sometimes you find small numbers of spring flowers flowering at this time.

This is presumably because the plants get confused by the length of daylight

and temperatures which are the same as in spring. Recent examples I have

seen include Magnolia, Himalayan Clematis and Pasqueflower flowering at the

end of October.

Of the truly wild flowers, Ivy and hybrids between Western Gorse and

Gorse start flowering in September.

Winter Heliotrope starts to flower in November.

Gorse and Helibores starts to flower in December.

In mild winters, herbs such as Daffodil, Lesser Celandine, Snowdrop,

Winter Aconite and Winter Heliotrope may start to flower in November and

December.

Late autumn and early winter is also the time when many of the showy shrubs

that dominate gardens, parks and public amenity areas begin to flower, e.g.,

Camelia, Fatsia, Hebe, Japonica, Silk-tassel bush, Viburnum, Winter

Honeysuckle and Winter Jasmine, some of which live as escapes in waste land,

brownfield sites and relic gardens, especially near built up areas.



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