🍂December Edition: Last Month in Bloom – A Rewind

In the Field with Melissa | December Edition
 👩‍🌾 By Melissa Berrier, Landscape Design and Sales
 Frederick Landscaping | Serving Maryland

December may look sleepy on the surface, but gardeners know this month is full of reflection especially on the late-season surprises that carried us into winter.

Last month, while visiting client gardens and doing a little unofficial “field research,” I stumbled across more color, texture and unexpected blooms than you’d ever think November could deliver in Maryland. And since these moments deserve more love than a quick snapshot, I’m sharing them here in the December edition of In the Field with Melissa.

A Reliable Rebel: The November Azalea

Some plants follow the rules.
This azalea does not.

For the third year in a row, it decided November was the perfect time to put on a fresh show of blooms. I still don’t know the exact variety but I’ve learned to simply appreciate the pattern: frost arrives, coats come out and this azalea wakes up like, “Surprise!”

 

 

 

 

Geraniums Stretching the Season

Annual geraniums still blooming in late November?
Yes… if they’re tucked along a warm flagstone pathway.

The stones absorb and release heat long after the air cools, giving these plants a little “extended stay summer.” They looked perfectly content pretending it wasn’t almost December.

 

 

A Bold Red Trio Holding Strong

One landscape really held onto its fall drama:

• Burning bush glowing deep red
• Knock Out rose matching it with a few fiery blooms
• Holly creating a rich, evergreen backdrop

The combination looked like fall refused to clock out for the season.

 

Winter Plant ID: A Niche Skill, But a Good One

A thick layer of dried leaves tried its best to hide the groundcover beneath but after 15+ years in the industry, I can spot plumbago even in winter camouflage.

Clients sometimes apologize for having me out when their garden looks “messy” this time of year. Please don’t. Winter is when the structure, the clues and the quiet details really shine. And honestly, winter plant ID is one of my favorite and most underrated skills.

 

 

A Slope Dreaming of Spring

One hillside covered in hellebores and epimedium might look understated in November, but standing there I could already imagine the wash of spring color that will pour down the slope in just a few months.

Late fall may look like an ending, but it’s often a preview if you know where to look.

 

 

Small November Wonders Worth Noticing

Even in the final stretch before winter, the garden tossed out a few surprises:

 

• A lone vinca bloom

One tiny periwinkle flower showing up fashionably late.

 

  • Lamb’s ear echoing lichen

The soft silver foliage matched perfectly with the lichen-covered boulder beside it… a subtle, natural color study.

 

 

• Hypericum with an evergreen backdrop

A wide, textured mat of hypericum groundcover paired with a yellow evergreen. When those bright yellow flowers return next year, they’ll mirror that backdrop perfectly.

 

 

 

• PJM rhododendron showing unexpected color

PJM isn’t known for fall foliage… but someone forgot to tell this one. Bright red leaves lit up the garden like a last-minute encore.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Winter has a way of reminding me that the garden never fully shuts down; it just changes volume. There’s beauty in the quiet months, in the unexpected blooms, in the clues hidden under leaves and in imagining what’s to come.

These observations may have been collected in November, but they’re worth savoring now…

a little color and curiosity to warm up December.

That’s this month’s field research.

See you next month!
 – Melissa