Seems early, with the other Spring blooming camellia only in bud. This is the sort that carried red tips all Winter, so I guess that's why it was named 'Red Candles'. In the shade of a high Holly tree, it's thriving.
This rather grasslike little Spring ephemeral is, nevertheless, quite different from the Daffodils, Crocus, etc. The leaves emerge in Fall and line the walk, here, all Winter. Ipheion uniflorum. The Spring Starflower. Only about 4 inches tall, with one inch wide blooms.
My wife put together this little vase for the windowsill.
Ipheon uniflora again, I believe, but with darker, and slightly smaller blooms. I. u. 'Rolf Feidler'.
This Corydalis, which is purchased as a bulb, is blooming away again in the little rock garden. Corydalis solida 'G.P. Baker'.
The dwarf, red barked Japanese Maple, Acer platanum 'Fjelheim' has the most brilliant red twigs. 'Sango Kaku' is also red, but not as brilliant. But that one keeps the red better on older stems. 'Fjelheim' clearly loses the color on any branch older than a year or so. Not knowing the possible origin of the name, it may mean 'home of fire' and I am curious. Apparently an Australian find, no longer available from the place I bought it from, many years ago. A deformation called a 'witches broom' that continues growing in its clotted, stunted form. At any rate, I chose some strangely angled twigs, broke them off, scored the ends a little, wet them and coated them with rooting compound. We will see if anything comes of those 6.
Facts about these beautiful birds. More southern, they have moved North since G. Washington's times. Kept as cagebirds, then, but that custom, accepted without question, is, thankfully, almost inconcievable. The males lose their feisty attitude in Winter and gather, up to 14 at once, near my feeder. Still, no two will tolerate being at the feeder at once. Now they spar, as the need to declare nesting areas arises. And they brighten. the edges of the feathers that are grayish drop off.
One of the first plants here, the Forsythia 'Karl Sax' might not be my choice today. Individual flowers are large and a preferred yellow, but lower growing, more densely blooming sorts are on the market now.
The Winterhazels are in bloom. And this is my favorite. Corylopsis gotoana is rather oriental in manner of growing.
I repeat myself in the seasonal cycle. This fine Corylopsis is C. pauciflora. The meaning of pauciflora might be sparse flowered, and refers only to there being a few flowers in each cluster, as the shrub is truly crowded, abundantly, with clusters of bloom.
As a city kid, I was fascinated with this shrub, blooming pale yellow in the dark woods of earliest Spring. The Spicebush, Lindera benzoin. Not so spectacular, now that I know about so many other plants.
And here is a near relative, also native to NJ. The Wicopy or Dirca palustris has these twin flowers. Its bark rips off in amazingly strong strips, so it was useful to the first people here for binding and weaving. The species name palustris always refers to a plant being found in low, wet areas.
I believe this is Magnolia kobus 'Wildcat'. Blooming now high in the woods at the edge of the exit drive. It would be spectacular as a lone tree in full sun. Mine will never be moved and never will achieve that full potential, but still, I am glad I have it. Too high now to easily show the beauty of each individual, multi-petalled flower.
An effort with the zoom lens on my finepix camera.
Corydalis 'Beth Evans' again. This time good enough for any plant catalog, with only real Sun making the photo better.
Scilla siberica, which contrasts spectacularly with the Corydalis above. A true cobalt blue, and with the light and dark, they must be from purchases at different times or from different sources. Some grow among the stepping stones in the front path.
.JPG)
Beautiful arrangement.
ReplyDelete