Larger than life figures on the Sarasota waterfront

One more baseball game today then heading home to assess the progress of springtime there.  In the meantime I’ve been keeping my little treasures from Plant Delights happy in the motel room here.

Watering the plants as they travel

For those who have asked, the set of new acquisitions include

A Yellow-eyed grass,  four unusual Hellebores, 2 small Ranuculus, a hardy Rosemary, Corydalis ‘Blackberry Wine’, a very frizzy Lady Fern, False Freesia, Iris unguicularis, a startlingly pretty Acanthus mollis with gold edges, a hardy orchid Calanthe ‘Kozu Spice’, Iris Japonica ‘Wuhan Angel, Gladiolus ‘Priscilla’, 2 new Euphorbias, and a very pretty little dwarf Calamint.  Also there is a three gallon Daphne odora that jumped into the car at the last minute…

Helleborus x hybridus 'Heronswood Yellow w/red spot'

On my way to spring training I was able to stop at Plant Delights in North Carolina during one of their open house days.  It was a real treat to make my first visit there (I’m sure there will be others in the future).  The place is well named as it caters to the people who are delighted in the rare and unusual in the gardening world.  Part of what makes both the online presence and the actual place enjoyable is the personality of the owner, Tony Avent, whom I bumped into as I toured the grounds.  His enthusiasm for gardening bubbles over into his descriptions and interpretations of plant characteristics.  I noted that he seemed to push the boundaries of what could be growing in North Carolina and he responded that when he had failures he would go back and find another plant “higher on the mountain”, looking for the individual specimens that would survive.  In other words, a lot of intelligent experimentation.

The garden was open for touring but not a lot had come into flower yet because of the cold weather.   I saw a flowering cherry and camellias, but what particularly caught my eye was this Algerian Iris.

Algerian Iris (Iris unguicularius)

Very pretty and early -flowering to boot.

The garden was interesting for it’s winding paths which are heavily mulched and water features.

Garden pathways

Everything (and I mean everything) was labeled.  A lot seems to have been planted relatively recently but there were some really nice specimens like this Japanese Crepe Myrtle with cinnamon-colored bark.

Lagerstromia fauriei 'Townhouse'

The plants for sale were headlined by the Hellebores that were at their peak, with many interesting varieties to whet a gardener’s appetite.

Hellebores for sale

I came back with four new varieties but left this lovely double for the future.

Helleborus x hybridus 'Mardi Gras Double White'

There were a great many other interesting plants on display, including shade lovers, sun lovers, hardy and not-so-hardy, all of them carefully labeled with descriptions.  I think about seven greenhouses in all that were open to the public, though there are a great many more in production.

Row of greenhouses at Plant Delights

I spent about four hours going over the choices but could easily have spent longer.  As it was I came away with 18 tiny treasures that represent things that I either knew that I needed before I came or didn’t know that I needed until I came to Plant Delights  :)

Garden treasures from my visit

Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) opening up

The first of the Winter Aconite have come into bloom.  These are the wild ones that escaped from another part of the yard and have somehow self-sown 50 feet away from the original clump.  The latter are still under a pile of snow.  However, The Camellia garden where most of the Hellebores live is nearly free from snow and they are beginning to do their thing.

Hellebore opening up

Hellebore arising

The snow is rapidly disappearing and with the temps forecasting in the fifties for the next week we should see a lot of green grass very soon.

The backyard emerges from a winter blanket

I will, however, miss some of this melting as I’m off to Florida for a week to see the Baltimore Orioles emerge from hibernation.  This is another springtime ritual…

I was crouched down underneath the Witch Hazel today trying for a shot of the yellow flowers against a pretty blue sky when I heard a commotion in the forsythia bushes next to me.  I glanced over just in time to see a hawk about 4 feet away from me.  It had apparently just struck a smaller bird.  We stared at each other through the branches for a moment and then I finally had the presence of mind to raise my camera, but too late!  He launched with the small bird in talons.  I took pictures as best I could having neither the right lens or the time to look through the viewfinder.  As it turns out in looking at the pictures later I believe that the small bird was a cardinal — the beak is a giveaway.  It was amazing how fast the hawk could fly even carrying the other bird.  They are certainly the masters of the sky.  I can’t tell which hawk it is from the pictures, but something tells me I will get another chance to see in the future…

Hawk with Cardinal

Hawk w cardinal as he flys away

And oh yes, I did get the witch hazel against the blue sky….

Chinese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis) against the blue sky

This has been the most amazing February on record.  Very few blades of grass to be seen all month.  I can actually look back and note years when we have tilled the garden in February but this year has seen snowfall after snowfall.  At long last the Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) have come into bloom to add some flowerful color to our lives.

An Amaryllis couplet

Even the Amaryllis seem to have been delayed this year past their normal appearance.  I usually take the cue from the plants and don’t try to force their pace.  But once they start to grow they get lots of light and water.  Though somewhat retarded in time they have put forth a solid set of blooms.

Amaryllis in bloom

Though widely known as Amaryllis the flowers we grow under that name are more properly Hippeastrum.  There are 70 species and over 600 cultivars and I’ve long since lost the names of the two particular ones that we grow.  They respond well to living on the outside during the summer then a dry dormancy at the end of the fall where they live in the dry basement.  In December we start watering gently again and wait for some sign of growth.  They flower for an extended period of time and they’re well worth the small effort to grow them.

Amaryllis detail

Outside I’m seeing increasing patches of green.  The crocus are showing above ground in the spots where the snow has melted — there is still a foot or more of snow in many places— but they would still like to have some warmer weather before granting a bloom.

Crocus just starting out in the grass

And in the garden bed where the most of the snowdrops live, the same snowdrops that appeared in January are still hanging in there.  A bit bedraggled from living under the snowpack, but flowering nonetheless.  I am becoming a real admirer of these little bulbs.

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) still in bloom

I took a walk around the grounds yesterday to see what was emerging.  The first thing that caught my eye was that the snow has melted off half of the deck revealing the little three gallon pot of Witch Hazel and its straps of flowers seem to be no worse for the weight of snow that has been on them for more than two weeks.

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) 'Diane' after the snow

Seeing its bright red flowers as a real portent of the spring to come makes it even more important that I find the right place to plant this one in the yard.  We need a spot where it will be noticed throughout January and February.  Of course its close relative the Chinese Witch Hazel is also continuing to be a bright spot in the yard.  And it is so very much more appreciated this year.

Chinese Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis) with its straps unfurled

Mostly the ground is still covered with snow. I can finally see the top of my the small bench in the backyard that we bought for our granddaughter.

Aoife's bench

But there are a very few places in protected locations where there is actual soil visible.  And in one of those I can see the first leaves of a Primula emerging.  Hurrah!

Primula x polyantha emerging

It’s raining tonight and if we get enough gentle rain I’m hopeful that will wash some snow away.  I’d certainly like to be able to assess the damage to the evergreens which have been flattened for the last two weeks.

Daphne flattenitus

The theme for the Gardening Gone Wild Picture This photo contest for February is “Winter Light”.  The pictures will be judged by Roger Foley who has quite a lot of experience with garden photography.  I recommend visiting the Gardening Gone Wild site just to see the submissions from a host of garden bloggers.  From previous experience many of these photos will be very interesting.

With all the snow that we have had this year the word Winter takes on a different connotation than it has in the past.  I mean, cmon, I expect crocuses to appear by tomorrow and it just ain’t gonna happen.  Well, it could happen but there’s no way I would see them under the snowpack.  Because of this theme I have been paying more attention to the various kinds of light amidst all the shoveling and plowing.  There was the full-blooded sunshine on February 7th with the afternoon sun creating a delightful postcard scene.  And I also posted a memorable sunset in January that would also qualify for “Winter Light”

But the particular picture that seemed most appropriate for the theme was taken late on the afternoon of February 6th.  Just after the megastorm had completed its multi-feet deposit of snow, the sun, barely breaking through the clouds, came out in sort of diffuse glow.  I guess that after a day and a half of heavy snow the light was more than magical that afternoon…

Late Afternoon Light

Novel Orchid of unknown parentage

Well we find ourselves in Boston for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day and the outdoor flowering is definitely limited.  So the focus is once again on orchids.

We did take a walk around the yard today and, although they don’t have the heavy layer of snow that we have in Frederick, the flowering and color is definitely on the side that requires considerable imagination.  I was struck once again by the unusual Hellebore variety ‘Red Silver’

Helleborus foetidus 'Red silver'

and there is an unusual Rhododendron with distinctive red buds in the kids’ garden.

Rhododendron 'Scarlet Wonder'

But in the end the wonderful orchids that they have sprinkled around the sun-lit interior of their house are what captures the mind’s eye.  I took pictures of the five that are in bloom right now and thought that I would share them in this posting.

Fuschia colored moth orchid (Phalaenopsis)

Miniature Cattleya

Miniature Cattleya Orchid detail

Speckled Moth Orchid

Phaelenopsis orchid branch

Lovely Oncidium Orchid

Despite my hopes that winter will begin to pack up its bags I note that another 5 inches of snow are expected in Frederick tonight.  I guess we will be a long time thawing out this year…