Viburnum bognantense is almost in full bloom. A shrub that I will prune, to make it denser. And right after bloom is finished seems the best time.
The two forms of Helliborus I have, here, have done very well. A liberal dose of bone meal seems needed in this acid soil. With a typical Winter, the foliage would be so bad, by now, that trimming it off would be necessary. This year, the foliage does not look too messy. And the flowers are, then, hidden by those leaves. A full range of colors is not really available, yet. The slates that made up the sidewalks, when I was growing up, were just the color of many of the flowers that are on the market as 'blue'. But there are fine yellows and reds available.
Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Snow Cream' is just starting to open the unusual flowers. They are fragrant.
One of the larger and later Crocus hybrids. Unusual in that the voles did not get to it. The little corms must be highly poisonous, but might be new to each hapless vole, and, like the mushrooms given to a Roman Emperor, to kill him, might taste fine. He remarked about how flavorful the mushrooms were.
As the new little Edgeworthia 'Snow Cream' comes along, photos will be continued.
Iris histrioides 'Katherine Hodgkins' is the most extraordinary colors. It came in the gift plants that arrives, monthly, from a friend.
It was planted out, with no expectations, after other Winter blooming Iris, like I. reticulata, just peter away, slowly. They seldom bloomed after the first year. This one, just carelessly set out, has come back for 3 years.
Even the cultural directions suggested in 'Paghat's Garden' did not help. That website stands alone, for many good reasons
The work in progress. A plastic pool that cost just about as much as the rocks I am setting around it. Hopefully, it will be useable by the Southern Gray Tree Frog, that always ends up singing by the above ground pool, and did produce hundreds of ill fated tadpoles in that pool. A pump would make the pool more interesting, but powering it is problematic.
The Spring Peepers, Hyla crucifer, have been singing for several nights, now, so one or two might wander by and breed in the pool. Time will tell.
While all the daffodils come up, and are almost blooming, these plants are the Lycoris called 'naked ladies'. The foliage will die down in late Spring, and the plant will bloom, with no foliage, in Fall.
The only two Helliborus on the property. Hardly Christmas roses. And the flowers look down, like those of Edgeworthia. Very easy, with bone meal added, to overcome the natural acid of this soil.
Pink coloration seriously fades with my little camera, and the previous photo of a single flower shows the darker pink that is more accurate.
Below is Cornus mas 'Golden Glory'. It was put next to the Arizona Cypress for the contrast.
Totally purple, for the Winter, Ajuga is a splendid ground-cover, but what garden-web opiners call a 'thug'. I can see it as a useful addition to containers, and am very careful to keep it from romping out of the slightly elevated bed where the roses are kept.
It is time to take the wire and leaves away from the Roses, as it should not get too cold, and the buds are swelling.
Mazus repens is in this same bed, contrasting totally with the Ajuga. It is not as invasive as Ajuga, but is also not allowed to wander into the lawn.
I have been mislabeling this Camellia and its proper name is 'Crimson Candles'.
Really does fill itself with flowers.
The color is deeper and more intense that the photo shows. A blood red in the ones we brought, early, into the house, but a little darker, out-of-doors, than the photo shows.
Scilla libanotica
3/13 Earlier than Forsythia, and, here, a leggy and sparse shrub, Abeliophylum distichum is supposed to be very rare in its native Korea. The brief bloom is remarkable only for the early timing, but it is fragrant.
It seems to bloom better when pruned back, after the bloom is done.
Of all the plants that bloom in what is 'technically' still Winter, none is anticipated more than Rhododendron mucronulatum 'Alba'.
A great deal of time was spent hunting up where this plant could be purchased. The bloom only lasts about a week, but the plant does take on some Fall color, also.
Frost had messed up the first few flowers, but these are fine.
A bumblebee was busy on the plant.
The older Edgeworthia, that has been here for about 8 years, bloomed poorly this Spring. These flowers are darker than the one shown before, that are on the sort called 'Snow Cream'. That plant is supposed to grow faster, does have larger flower clusters, and also has a fragrance.
This photo was taken a year ago. I have seen the insect out, flitting in the Winter Sun, as early as February second. This year I saw one, last week, and tried to photograph it. It must have been a male, because it took off, immediately, after another, and they went off, together, into the forest. The young are supposed to feed on the sweet-gum trees that are everywhere, here. The female must have a powerful odor that the male could detect, as that is how many female insects are discovered.
Having never seen identified male and female up close, they seem to me as alike as a pair of Canada Geese. My assumption is that the very dark color helps the insect gather heat, and they do sit in the Winter Sun enough that the insects are approachable and easy to photograph.
The two Hellibores continue to gain height.
I have joked about Dirca palustris, a native NJ plant called the wicopy. Apparently valuable to the original denizens because of the extreme flexibility of the branches. But, beyond that, I see little reason to plant it.
The half-inch long, greenish yellow flowers seem scentless, but do fit the description of a Winter Flowering Plant, as Spring starts 3/20.
