Winter Blooms And The Living Dead

I've moved! According to the new 2012 USDA Hardiness Zone map I have moved from 7b to 8a. This doesn't surprise me. My location was in zone 8 prior to 1990, then became zone 7b, now it's back to 8a. I have always known that plants zoned only up to 7 could be iffy to get through our summers. I like plants zoned 5 to 9. That should cover it! Thanks to Carolyn at Carolyn's Shade Garden for prompting me to check out the new zone map!

Whatever the zone, today was cold! Did I say something about spring in a previous post? This afternooon was so sunny I was expecting pleasant temperatures. I put on a light jacket before grabbing my camera and heading outdoors. Well, I was outside about three minutes before I came back inside for a heavier coat!

We are expecting temps well below freezing tonight, and I hold my breath for all the blooms in my yard. You would not guess how cold it is in the following photos. Not a snowflake for proof!

No worry for this thing I found, for the living dead have no concern for the frost!This rotting log is encrusted with fungi and lichen, and a close view reveals otherworldly beauty.

Hellebores were hunkered down this morning but perked up by the time I took their photos this afternoon:The frecked hellebore in the top photo is a chance seedling. I hope more like this one pop up!

Daffodil blooms stood up to last nights frost. I don't know if they will survive tonight's.
Above are back and front views of the same bloom.

Some more colors to cheer this February day - see the pansy with the smiley face:

Here's a view across the Front Garden. Can you feel the chilly air?A note about those round balls: I have tried hard to train Lou not to prune our yaupon hollies into round balls, but so far my training has not worked. He does it when I'm not looking.

And finally, here's some images from the Woodland Garden:

By now my fingers were frozen. Back inside! What's that smell? Lou is cooking up some fresh collard greens, just picked from the vegetable garden. Frost, they say, makes collards tender, so these should be very good!

Name the Season

Winters are wishy-washy here; one never knows what we will get. Within hours, bitter cold can be followed by spring-time temperatures. Warm gulf stream air and Canadian cold collide and fight for dominance, and neither wins for long. Plants are sometimes confused, like the people who keep a few summer sleeves in the closet along side heavy woolens.

And so it is in my garden, as 2011 comes to a close. We have had some frosts, but mild afternoons have persuaded some plants to start new growth. I hate to see it, for those tender shoots are doomed. Go back to sleep I say. You've hardly had a nap. But plants listen to rhythms other than my voice.

The garden is not colorless. In many ways it still looks like late fall. Crinkly piles of leaves are everywhere. A few colored ones cling to branches here and there, and evergreens brighten the landscape with various shades of green, sometimes tinted with gold, purple or red.Top photo above looks across the patio, while the middle photo is taken from the same spot, with the camera turned to look over the lady garden. Lower left is a portion of the drive, and lower right is the upper end of the hydrangea walk.

More color comes from rose hips and berries:Top photo is a rose hip. Berries shown clockwise from middle left: Ilex vomitoria (yaupon holly); Symphoricarpus doorenbosii 'Kordes' (Amethyst coralberry); Cornus florida (flowering dogwood); Ilex verticillata (common winterberry)On a cold, gray day I found bare branches, empty seed pods, and other signs of winter, but an orange pumpkin, three months old, still brightens the landscape where I set it after taking it and other parts of an autumn display out of the front planter. Its colors are striking, and I'm not willing to put it in the compost while it remains in good shape. I found signs of spring, too, as early daffodils push up from the earth.

 

Winter blooming camellias provide spots of color. There is beauty even in the fallen ones, I think.I am pleased with my fall vegetable garden, and I have discovered that growing food this time of year is easier than struggling to keep vegetables alive through a bug infested, disease ridden, hot and dry summer. But I am not a vegetable gardener, as the broccoli in the collage below testifies. Lou told me days ago that we had broccoli to pick, but in the busyness of the season, I forgot about it. Today I was horrified to discover that some of it had started to flower! Fortunately, there was plenty still good to pick, but I felt bad that I had neglected it.Top photo is decorative cabbage which borders the vegetable patch. Non edible, but I want even this utilitarian area to be pretty! Lower shots are of my neglected broccoli and swiss chard, which has flourished in spring, early summer, fall, and now early winter. Frost has not bothered it.What season are you in? Here is whatever you name it. My garden has a little of it all, with surely some surprises waiting around the corner in 2012.

Happy winter gardening!