After a day or two in early February when temperatures rise more than a few degrees above freezing, the gardener becomes particularly anxious for spring to arrive. His patience is not helped at all by witch hazels and hellebores with buds that are ready to burst into bloom, and snowdrops that have flowered sporadically for…
Tag: witch hazels
Flowers in the snow
More than a few times this winter, enthusiasm has been quashed by another spell of extreme cold or more inches of snow. As soon as buds of hellebores show signs that flowering is imminent, they are buried for another week under six inches of snow. Finally, ‘Diane’ (above) and ‘Jelena’ (below) witch hazels (Hamamelis x…
The scent of winter
Despite the horrid cold of recent days, the vernal witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis, above) blooms on, though the ribbon-like petals curl tightly in the worst of the freeze for protection (below). My wife tells me that scents are muted by the cold, but I’ve never paid much attention to this because I’m generally resistant to…
Mistaken identity
The nursery owner was a bit of a kook. Or, perhaps he was overly anxious to make a sale, any sale. The recession had been raging for several years at this point, and many neighboring tree growers in mid Tennessee had fallen on hard times. It appeared that few trees had left this fellow’s fields…
The promise of spring
Despite bouts with ice, snow, and several nights when temperatures dipped far into the teens, ‘Winter Sun’ mahonia (Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’, above) continues to flower into late December. In recent years the blooms have persisted into January, and there’s no reason to expect anything different this year. On close inspection a hint of…
Bewitching
The yellow flowered, hybrid ‘Arnold Promise’ witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’) has struggled through this year. As far as I can see, nothing of consequence has changed in the nearby area to cause the soil to be continually damp, but water has often pooled in the area and the witch hazel objected by…
No sense
Fortunately, I still have a sense of humor, but I’m afraid even it’s fading fast. My common sense is debatable, and I’m so color blind I can hardly tell green from brown. My wife tells me I’m nearly stone deaf, and I can barely smell the most fragrant of flowers in the garden. This is…
I’m moving to South Carolina
A year ago I noted that the mild winter temperatures were more akin to South Carolina than to northwestern Virginia. I’m not at all certain that this was a result of the warming of the planet (that seems inevitable), or an anomaly, but I was all for it in the short term. If this matter were…
Unusual and uncommon March blooms
For the first time since I planted the Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica, sometimes referred to as Persian witch hazel, below) I’ve seen its unusual blooms. Parrotia is in the witch hazel family (Hamamelis), and the flowers are somewhat similar to other witch hazels. This tree was a late addition to the garden, planted long after…
No doubt, it will get warmer
There will be warmer days. Soon, I hope. After considerable consternation in recent years (and earlier this winter) about the warming of the planet, the past few weeks have been cold, just when there was hope that spring was around the corner. With witch hazels and hellebores in full bloom a week into February, there…
The downhill side of winter
At the start of February we’re on the downhill side of winter, but I’m anxious for the season to move along faster to be rid of this cold. A few unusually warm days tease that spring is drawing nearer, but the mood is spoiled a day later with a chill and gusty winds. Even on…
Winter flowers, and more to come
This week, another warmer than usual winter is disguised by a heavy blanket of frost. On a cold, blustery January afternoon the garden’s flowers don’t make the shivering temperatures feel any warmer, but they promise that spring is nearer by the day. On average, the coldest temperatures of the winter are the second week of…
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 