Just before they go I thought it'd be nice to include the old hyacinth, Hyacinthus orientalis. I like the smell.
These are three different winter roses or Helleborus x hybridus. They are the same genus as H. foetidus and therefore members of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. The colourful flower parts are not petals but sepals. The former have evolved into nectar-holding structures. Sepals tend to persist after petals are lost, consequently these remain colourful for a long time. They are also evergreen, hardy, winter-flowering and shade tolerant, hence their popularity amongst gardening folk.
It's probably time to grasp the differences between hybrids and infra-specific classification in more detail. I've already mentioned sub-species (denoted ssp.) but there can also be hybrids, varieties and forms.
Hybrids can be biological or taxonomic. Usually I think of them in the latter way: Hybrids are crosses between two different subspecies in the same species (intraspecific); two different species in the same genus (interspecific); two species from different genera (intergeneric) and, very rarely, two species from different families (interfamilial). In this case H. orientalis and its subsepecies or closely related species such as H. purpurascens or H. niger.
Varieties tend to be geographically separate 'versions' of the same botanical species. If different varieties of the same species are brought together they can breed.
Form is below variety and some consider it a pointless division as it merely reflects genetic variation: e.g. a plant with commonly purple flowers might occasionally produce white forms, usually denoted as Genus species f. alba. In zoology it has no taxonomic validity.
A cultivar (cultivated variety) is a plant with particular characteristics which can be perpetuated by propagation and are selected, usually, by human intervention. All food plants grown commercially are cultivars. e.g. Solanum tuberosum 'King Edward'.
Always the first tree to flower in our garden, usually closely followed by the apricot.
This is not the most attractive tree. It's a cherry plum or Myrobalan plum, Prunus cerasifera var. Pissard's plum. Cracking name. The flowers are delightful, especially when the tree is festooned. (I'll try to remember to add a picture of it in full glory.) You can just about make out the Iris reticulata growing around the base.
These come out every year in our garden and must have been planted by the previous owners. Iris reticulata is a native of Russia, the Caucasus and northern Iran but has been widely cultivated.
They are absolutely stunning close up but easily overlooked due to their diminutive nature and brief flowering period; they're at their best for about a week. This year they are brightening my birthday in the early spring sunshine.
It's nearly midnight and I didn't get out to find suitable species today so here's one that is definitely not native but which I'm proud of as I've managed to keep it alive for many years and still it flowers spectacularly from time to time. It also links with the cultivars theme from yesterday and begs the larger question about non-native organisms (of which more later).
This is, of course, a member of one of the largest families of flowering plants, the Orchidaceae. There are currently around 25,000 species known in around 850 genera. This one is a Cymbidium sp hybrid which does well in cool climates. What a belter!
