Wintry Mix

This mild winter has brought along the common weather report of a "wintery mix" of rain, sleet, snow and whatever other forms and shapes water can make in between.  So, what have I found the labyrinth showing its courage?

Near the entrance of the labyrinth, underneath the front edge of the viburnum is this bold Hellebore.  I confess I don't have my journal with the variety written down, so I cannot name it.  I promise to take another photo of the flowers and name it then.  I just bought it last year, about this same time in January, and kept it on the dining table for several weeks to enjoy it close up. 

The next beauty is actually in the North Garden, on the other side of the house.  This plant is budding much earlier than any of the others in that area, which gets no sun in the winter and the only warmth is from being close to the foundation of the house. 

It arrived as an unnamed seedling I bought at half price when the Sunshine Farm and Gardens was getting rid of large quantities they had not been able to re-pot.  I lost half of them in the first 8 months, because they were not ready for the rough and tumble life of an ordinary patch of soil.  So much for any savings, and they still took a couple of years before reaching blooming size.  Always wanting to be forgiving, I almost forget my frustration about what happened when they are blooming.  Almost.  I have not bought anything else from that nursery because of the rude response when I complained.  There are gentler ways to say discounted plants are not guaranteed.

In the back loop of the labyrinth are the tops of the new stems for the Peony 'Kopper Kettle.'  This will be the second spring for it to be in the ground, and I hope it has finally gotten large and settled in enough to bloom.  I have been waiting patiently, but no longer!  I can already count more than twice the number of stems that grew up last year.  Even more interesting, though it is hard to see in the photo, is that there are also buds on last year's stems.  Two, though out of focus here, are on the upper diagonal stem in this shot.  This particular peony is a cross between a tree and a herbaceous peony, with the strength of heavier stems so they don't collapse under the weight of the flowers.  They are supposed to die back to the ground, but this one didn't want to do that. I wonder how many others are doing this, and what conditions permit it?


So, I will end with another Bay view.  While the weather is not all that enticing, it is still uplifting to look through the garden at that expanse of water, almost blending into the sky.