Crocus and Witch hazel

The first crocus has pushed up through the grass, just opening their petals at the top of the wheat colored zoysia.  They waited until the temperature got over 60 degrees, but will be followed by many others.  The different colors of the crocus bulbs bloom at slightly different times every year.  The white is always the first, followed by the parchment-yellow ones.  The pale violet usually overlaps those a bit, and the dark violet is usually the last.  I've never known how anyone gets photographs of all the different colors at peak boom at one time?  Perhaps some climates allow for that, but certainly not Southern Maryland.  The early ones will have finished their blooming and started stretching out their leaves to rebuild the bulb before the last will even show color.

At the same time, the small grove of witch hazel, which has been quietly building up their buds for the first warm day, have burst into full bloom.  There are two remaining Arnold's Promise trees, one died last year.  They   are covered with brilliant yellow clusters of short thready petals, and there is a rich, almost heavy fragrance that is noticible for quite a distance.    I paid dearly for those many years ago, only to find more at half price the following week because the flowers were faded.  I wish I had bought more of them at that time.  But money was tight. 

The flowers are distinctive, with a bundles of long ribbons for petals.  Individually they do not have a lot of impact, but collectively, spread out along the branches, they carry quite a punch in a period with little other color.

So, a year or two later, when I saw witch hazel at a cheaper priced nursery, I decided to buy more.  They were labeled at Arnold's Promise, but the price was suspiciously low.  I decided to take the chance, and what I got were 4 different, probably seed grown native varieties of witch hazel. 

They do not have the punch of color, each being a slightly different mixture of orange with bits of yellow, and the flowers are much smaller.  But they have all grown into much larger, multi-stemmed trees in a  tough location that needs everything possible to hold the soil in place.  So I came out alright in the end.  The one thing I wish I could changes is that a few of them hold onto their leaves from the previous year, right through the blooming season, covering the small flowers they have.

When the witch hazel is blooming, it is time to cut down all of the tall grasses, and haul the straw down the hill to one of the brush piles.  I did that last weekend - pictures of how different it looks will be coming soon. 

February Flowers

It is that time of year when only the determined bloomers are showing any color in the garden.  For this garden it is the heathers and winter jasmine.  While their colors are soft and their stature is small, against the drabness of the browns and grays, they provide a reassuring hope in the middle of the winter. The heathers, as intended, are visible from the living room windows of the house, and during most of the year are a low and easily ignored grouping at the top of a steep slope.  The current varieties have survived the hot baking sun in the summer and the long cold and wet of the winter.  I have had the most success with starting them as small plants, pampering them for the first year or two, then only watering them during periods of severe drought.  They are pruned down in the spring, to preventing legginess.

One variety that is particularly enjoyable is the Multicolor, with its intense winter foliage color, shown above.  I have lost several and this is my one survivor.  I am not sure what the specific problem has been, and wish I knew what to do.  But I have lost too many to buy any more without some sense of keeping them going. 

I brought out some winter jasmine plants from our house in DC, and though there is not a high spot for them to cascade down, someday I will find the right place. They are holding their own while the right spot will be found someday.

Soon, as the days get warmer, and temperatures rise about 40 degrees, other big, bright flowers will make these small bits of color fade by comparison.  But during the worst of February, they give me hope.

Hoarfrost

With the freezing temperatures and varying forms of precipitation, there is not any new growth or flowers.  but the hoarfrost does create some beautiful effects.  Here are some pictures, without a lot of words, to show that aspect of the garden.

Dwarf holly

Penstemon Husker Red

Close-up on the dwarf holly