Nothing...and I do mean absolutely NOTHING blooms in my gardens in February.....or March or April for that matter so when I saw a lovely little red-berried shrub listed as a 'February DAPHNE' in a friend's gardens a number of summers ago I was quite interested. As it turns out 'February DAPHNE' was it's common name and had nothing to do w/ it blossoming during February in north-eastern Vermont.

Botanically known as DAPHNE mezereum this is a deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub. It has a stiff upright sparsely branched habit of growth, with incredibly fragrant, very waxy, purple flowers. The lovely little flowers are followed by showy scarlet berries which, like all parts of the plant, are highly poisonous if ingested. Despite this somewhat negative attribute I added a couple to my gardens.

Besides the early spring flowering bulbs they are the first flowers to make an appearance at my place. As seen in the image here (taken just a couple of days ago) the blossoms are produced in small clusters- often grouped in masses just along the stem tips. Being deciduous the flowers really stand out on the bare branches. The so-called 'February' DAPHNE is more a 'May' DAPHNE at my place and always a treat to see after a very long winter.