Mother nature pushed the pause button in early January and only lifted her finger a few days ago. Yet, snowdrops kept their heads up, barely if the truth be told.  Hellebores slept with their buds resting on the ground, not daring to stretch their legs.

 

Snow and ice dressed the hydrangea on March 5, 2009.

 

Last week opened with the season’s worst snowstorm closing the local schools on Monday, the ground hidden under more snow and ice.  On Thursday I snapped pictures of the ice cycles hanging on the hydrangeas.  Not a bulb was showing. On Friday the garden heated up. Jackets came off as the temperatures crept up into the fifties. Saturday was almost beach weather in the sixties. I snapped pictures of snowdrops, winter aconite, crocus, dwarf iris, a primrose and a lone daffodil.  The snow crocus blooming among the primroses were so closely packed, I’ll dig them up and divide them to start new colonies as soon as they finish their bloom. Look closely at the picture and you can see slyly peaking out under the distressed leaves of a primrose is its first pink flower. New foliage will soon appear. The primroses will be glorious in their several months of bloom. The hellebores stretched their legs but not enough for picking. What a difference a day makes.

 

On March 5th the frozen pond began to thaw.	By March 7th the pond had thawed and the snowdrops were blooming.	Snow crocus and winter aconite in bloom.
Winter aconite surround a hellebore and the first shoots of a daffodil.	A bunch of snow crocus bloom between primroses.	Blue puschkinia flowers opened on shot stems under the pachysandra. They will shoot up over the next few weeks.

Hellebores begin to raise their heads.

 

 

The Winter Garden

January 3, 2009

After three big snowstorms and night temperatures in the twenties and thirties, a pineapple express blew through with sixty-degree temperatures on December 27. A clump of snow crocus bloomed in one part of the garden, snowdrops in another.

This is the earliest crocus have bloomed in my garden.

The winter rye growing in the vegetable garden was bright green and glowing. The Swiss chard doesn’t know when to quiet growing. It is still colorful.

 

Winter rye is a green cover crop.	Swiss chard and leeks retain their colorful leaves through early winter.

 

The winter garden of conifers adds bright color to the front lawn.  The golden conifers especially brighten dull days.

 

The buds on the magnolia in the winter garden are plump.

The green flowers of stinking hellebores, Hellebores foetidus, are about to bloom. Helleborus orientalis  will bloom next. It’s leaves have fallen to the ground and the flower buds are just breaking through the earth.  It dominates my hillside garden—or perhaps I should say because it drops the most seed. The seed falls straight down and the seedling sprout under the mother’s skirt of foliage.  The seedlings flower colors run the gamut from light pink to plum.  Since hellibores are notorious for crossing with any near-by strain, it might well be that what I have is hellibore hybrids.   Botanists argue over whether many hellebores listed as orientalis species are in fact hybrids.  It is difficult if not impossible to tell them apart.

The lime green flowers of Hellebores foetidus are about to open.	The hellebore's fat purple flower buds have just emerged from the earth.

 

 

December 7, 2008

Officially, it isn’t winter. The calendar proclaims two more weeks, but the weather says otherwise. I’m siding with the weather.

I woke up this morning to snow, the garden blanketed.  I jumped out of bed and cheered. All of the clean-up I hadn’t finished is now gloriously hidden, except perhaps around the pond. It does have a most lived in look. 

Isn't it wonderful how on dark days the grass, trees and hydrangea around the pond admire their own reflections.

The first snow of the year is always a pleasant surprise, even if it is a bit early. I always race out, coffee cup in hand, to look for the last roses in their jaunty white caps. It is so unexpected, a time when summer and winter collide. There were so many more roses than I expected, bright gems on bare branches. From a distance it didn't look like there were many in the formal rose garden, but up close they were easy to spot, pink buds and full blown beauties. The red roses in the arbor at the back of the vegetable garden glowed even from a distance.

 

My dog Teddy is usually more excited then I to survey the scene. My problem is, I can't always find him. See if you can pick him out standing by the back gate. Look for his black eyes. He was joined by Max, a friend's dog, along the lilac and peony walk.

Snow gloriously highlights the shapes and curves of vines, making fascinating pictures. Otherwise, the climbing hydrangea might not be noticed except when in flower. I never cut off the dried blooms. They are catcher mitts for the snow. The same goes for the dried flowers of other hydrangea. Check back in to my site this winter and I'll show you more.