gardenthoughts

even though it is only five days to the spring equinox, it’s a bit difficult to think of spring as i look out the window to see snow falling .. there’s a front coming in, the weatherpeople say, bringing high winds and rain .. yup, the trees are swaying in the gusts, the rain is pelting the roof, and big flakes of soppy wet snow are coming down to earth .. i tell myself that this is march, coming in “like a lion,” and i have visions of her “going out like a lamb” .. which, naturally, includes sunshine and flowers .. well, we have some of the flowers already ..

there have been vibirnum bodnantense flowers .. pink and white and fragrant .. one sniff just sends me into a swoon .. she is one of the first to appear as early as november, and staying until now .. and, at the same time the vibirnum are blooming, the hazel nuts are sending down tightly contracted catkins that eventually open up into cattail like tassels .. and, if you are close enough to see, miniscule red flowers open at the tips of buds .. incredible .. these are two of my earliest introductions to flowering deciduous shrubs .. this yard is filled with many, all with a particular role to play in the subtle unfolding time of winter ..

and, at this time in the cycle, the witchhazels are starting to wane, having been blooming since january .. there is a particularly “vigorous specimen” just inside the driveway (hamammelis mollis ‘pallida’) .. huge, vase shaped, covered in yellow tendrilly (is that a word?) flowers filling the yard with so much fragrance that it wafts out into the surrounding area, intoxicating those who come within its reaches .. so lovely .. another, more subtle witchhazel, reaches along and across the fence beside the public walkway .. it’s one of those ones that you really have to look for, in order to see her true beauty .. strings of orange/red spider out from the tips of branches .. wonderfull ..

and, cyclamen coum are covering bits of ground with their delightfull pinks .. brilliant against the dullness of what we are so used to as winter, living on coastal lands ..

and soon, hellebores will grace the yard with their full blown presence .. some, like the white helleborus niger, have been blooming since january, and like the witchhazel are on the wane .. but, here, at the end of the winter the helleborus orientalis, resplendent with shades of pink, is ready to take over the role ..

and, the other day, as i wandered about, peering at the earth, there were primroses (primula vulgaris), with pale, yet strong yellow buds unfurling before my eyes .. i always think of these particular ones as the harbingers of spring, coming so closely with the natural rhythm of the vernal equinox .. and here we are, at the end of the winter’s cycle .. and yet, as i again gaze out the window, the snow is falling as if it is going to stay awhile .. only five more days .. thankfully, i have the pleasure of the winter garden phil created to carry me through to winter’s end ..

i was recently asked if i could write a bit about hazelnut trees .. the person who asked said she was always so taken by the catkins that cascade down from slender stems .. sounds so poetic, somehow ..

i can remember catkins on trees from when i was a little girl, living on the prairies .. i didn’t know the names of the trees, or even that the hanging clusters were called ‘catkins’ ..i learned that later on in my life .. catkins .. an essential aspect of the winter flowering garden ..

my more recent experience with hazelnut trees and catkins was with phil .. i must have walked into his yard more than a hundred times without even realizing the trees were there .. then, one late december, early january day, phil introduced us .. he took me to see a trio of spindly, yet graceful small trees growing along the side of the golf cart shelter, on the boulevard .. their branches were adorned with catkins .. he said the trees probably wouldn’t do very well, as they were overshadowed by a towering maple .. not enough light .. nonetheless, he loved that they were there as they are, indeed, among the hardy entities of the winter flowering garden ..

now, years later, as i watch for them, it seems one day they are not there, and the next time i look, they are .. poof .. another pleasureful display of magic .. catkins stretching out .. loosening .. transforming into fluffy cat tails ..

and then, miracle of miracles .. miniscule flowers at the tips of buds .. something i might never have noticed if phil hadn’t shown me ..

the trees produce a few nuts, as well, although really it is the presence of the catkins and the tiny red flowers that make the biggest impression ..