
February can be one of the coldest and greyest months of the year. Here at Lazy Flora, we always want our plant collections to be super bright, uplifting and joyful, but during winter, it's especially important, as grey days can be hard on our spirits. This amazing collection gives us such a lift on cold, and grey days. Here are the plants that make up this beautiful collection.
Iris
***NOTE TO CUSTOMERS: Iris doesn't appear on the info leaflet that you receive with your deliveries, please accept our apologies for that oversight! They are very much part of this collection.***
Most irises originate from temperate parts of Europe and Asia. They prefer a sunny position: the more sun you can provide it with, the more flowers you will see. They also prefer quite moist soil during the spring when they are growing. During the summer, they are generally dormant and so prefer dry soil.
Iris takes its name from the Greek word for rainbow. It's thought that the reason for this is because Iris flowers come in such a huge range of colours. The ones we've chosen for you this month are delicate blue.
Even when irises have stopped flowering, their foliage gives a very attractive display of striking greenery.
Bellis Daisy
The daisy makes up 10% of all plants on the planet, so although you may not instantly recognise this plant as the flowers you made daisy chains with as a child, you know it is built to survive. Although these plants are technically perennials, they are often treated as annuals.
Cyclamen
Cyclamen give wonderful colour when there is not much colour to be seen, however the flowers will likely be killed by frost. Deadheading will help to ensure that they return with milder weather. Do not overwater these plants, as this can cause rotting. Technically a perennial, often treated as an annual.
Campanula
Campanula is a creeping perennial. It does not like to be too wet, but copes well both with shade or direct sun. The common name for this plant is Bellflower. The name 'Campanula' comes from the Latin for 'bell', because of the shape of the delicate but plentiful little flowers.
Carex
This Japanese sedge enjoys sunshine, so plant it in a sunny spot if you can. This beautiful ornamental grass was once used by people in the Antarctic as insulation for their boots. So you can be confident that it can handle the cold better than most plants around.
Ranunculus
Related to buttercups, Ranunculus look delicate but are quite tough. They are truly gorgeous cutting flowers, if you can bear to cut them! They are perennial bulbs so should come back next year. They don't last as long as Narcissi or Snowdrops, but they are worth the shorter show for their sheer beauty.
Narcissus
A popular sight in early spring, Narcissus is actually a member of the daffodil family. This plant is named after the Greek god of the same name. Narcissus was a handsome young man who fell in love with his own reflection in a pond, and fell in and drowned.
Viola
These miniature violas are a wonderful splash of colour. They will temporarily stop flowering when there is snow or a frost, but will resume as soon as there's a warmer spell and a bit of sunshine. In Victorian England, they were a symbol of love.
Juniper
Juniper is a little tree, with feathery blue foliage. It is slow-growing and easy to care for. Juniper is well known for its culinary and medicinal uses, and juniper berries are used to make gin. The berries are in fact tiny cones.
Primula
If you dead-head primulas throughout the spring, they will continue to flower. They will put on vigorous growth once the spring temperature starts to rise, but they will need a bit of protection (cover with hessian if you can), if there is to be a frost or snow.
Snowdrop
One of the first signs of spring. If the temperature drops below freezing, snowdrops will collapse. But fear not: they are incredible flowers that contain a nautral antifreeze (amazing, right?!), so they will recover once the temperature rises.
If you, like us, can't get enough of these plants, you can treat yourself to a Bold in the cold plant collection here.