Your winter jasmine and beauty berry may still be too young to have lots of flowers/berries. Give them time.

My Sarcococca went into the opposite direction: it came in roaring like a lion after I first planted it, but has been whimpering like a puppy for the last two winters.

My camellias are blooming, verbena still going, azaleas at there end.

My bougainvillas lost their leaves, my mandevilla looks dead but I'm hoping they will come back.
Swilly
Zone 9

Hello to you lucky 8 and 9 zone gardeners. How wonderful to have camellias and azaleas blooming. Here in zone 6 Massachusetts I anxiously await the appearance of anything, even a crocus. Although the daffodils stems are quite a bit above ground. We pretty much rely on attractive berries to get us through the winter blahs. My calicarpas are still loaded with berries(a particular favorite of the mockingbirds), as are the crabapples and hollies.

Lucky you! The birds ate up all of my Callicarpa berries (but I don't mind sharing).

The early spring camellias are starting to bloom (though the winter varieties have not yet fully quit). One of my purple plums is blooming and the first daffodils have opened up.

John, I'm trying to be patient with my smaller plants but the callicarpas I see in the nurseries are loaded with berries, and they are young as well. The jasmine nudiflorum is quite sparse but at least there are some flowers. I really want to espalier the jasmine to control it and maybe get better bloom on sideways branches. Maybe the callicarpa I have went into shock when transplanted, but it's been there for two years. That's too bad about your Sarcococca. Do you know what the problem is?

Swilly, which Verbena do you grow? I read they're a good butterfly plant. I must get more Camellias, as well. Both you and John have them and they seem to add color year round.

Which is everybodyÂs favorite Camellia right now?
Thanks,
Yeona

Every winter through rain, frost or snow , my Grevillia blooms it's orange bottle-brush type flowers. It hasn't figured out what hemisphere it's in....a most welcomed sight..

I read somewhere that the callicarpa gets more berries if you grow more than one. I have one for 4 years now and hardly get any berries. I'm thinking of getting another to keep it company.

Last spring I bought a chamaecyparis 'snow mound' that has croaked over the winter. I'm very disappointed. I have a small walled garden and I really need the evergreens.

I have a heuchera 'plum pudding' that stayed a beautiful plum color all winter. I just love it and wish I had more of them. My hardy geranium 'Bevan's variety' has stayed green as well and makes a nice mound over the winter.

Newt