Bogturtle's Garden February 2025

 

4 of the sorts of Witch-Hazels are in bloom. I will try to post better photos, but I am using a Finepix camera unfamiliar to me. The flower setting gives these rather dull results. The one above is really one of the best choices, as it has 0 leaf retention. This one is Hamamelis 'Robert'.

This blurry take is of H. 'Jelena', also called 'Copper Beauty'.

Another, demonstrating consistently bad leaf retention. H. 'Rochester'. The Van Belder family, in Europe, released these, given names of family members. 

H. 'Robert' again, against the bare branches of the Cornelian Cherry 'Golden Glory'. That will be in bloom in about 2 months.

Much to my surprise, the solar powered bird feeder will even send videos to my phone. And I took a video of that, put it in the computer and posted it here. Really amateur, but it does show a female Cardinal, distorted as the camera will, eating black sunflower seeds, with a chicadee trying to get some and being bullied. I'm learning and laugh, since this illustrates that 'When all else fails, read the directions'. I have not. I can see my reflection in the whole thing,  as well as the windows behind me.

Snowdrops are open. Galanthus nivalis, I believe.

A grand little Euonymus, Really unimpressive looking, here. Probably the tiniest, and it would be easily overcome, if not protected

And another Euonymus. E.'Woolong Ghost' has never amounted to much here and it, too, must be protected from the overwhelming neighbors. Really a fine plant, but the photography would not sell it.

Have shown this obscure little evergreen several times. A dwarf Mondo Grass in my little rock garden.

Another that would never endure, here, without TLC and protection.

Another obscure plant I am glad to see. Blooming with tiny, quite bright magenta colored blooms. The hardy Cyclamen coem, but in a unique silver leaved clone. Growing in the lens shaped bed outside the window, where the Red Knockout Roses are. Over the years, what with the wild Turkeys, that I hardly ever see, now, and the Deer, I have planted this unique clone, before, and lost it. I think they just picked at it out of curiosity, as I am sure it is very unpalatable, as most ground hugging plants tend to be. 

Hamamelis 'Jelena' again. To install solar on my roof, I have had a good deal of trees cut. So these Witch-hazels should become fuller, with the added Sun. They are not tall enough to block the Sun that needs to reach my roof, as was the surrounding forest.

Weird that the color of this Cyclamen coem comes across so weak. Quite an intense magenta pink, actually. Frustrating that the camera, on any setting, shows them washed out. But here it is Feb. second, with Feb. usually our coldest month, and here are these bright little flowers. 

Similarly difficult to show, here are the pure lemon yellow blooms on the Witch-hazel named 'Wisley Supreme'. It, too, should show a denser bloom, in the future, with the forest not shading it so much. 

I wondered how the hardy little Cyclamen coem would handle being buried in 10 inches of snow. Well that has melted quickly and this pink flower stands out of the remnant snow. 

At least the pale yellow flowers of Hamamelis 'Wisely Supreme' show up well in this photo. Taken through the window with the zoom feature, on the dullest of Winter days. I keep looking for the blooms on another, 'Arnold Promise', hoping the tree clearers did not remove it, as they made for more sun on my roof. A later bloomer, I think I see a little tree, covered in buds, where that one was planted. 

 Along with the fault of some sorts having leaves that will not fall, ruining the show of flowers, a good many will issue sprouts of the necessary sort that serves as the grafted roots for the rare and beautiful ones I have. 'Jelena' has continually given these suckers, that have a slightly more reddish bark color. These are of a more disease resistant kind that are more vigorous than the desired clone and grow faster. I have small, battery powered chain saws, so I cut off these unwanted sprouts that come from the roots. 

I suppose few have the interest I do in this Lichen, that usually grows high in the trees. Old Man's Beard or Usnea, of some species. Blown to the ground by last night's violent winds, I put it in the little Japanese Maple to see how it will fare.  As a college project, I tried to imitate what Scientific American Magazine featured, where the Fungus partner was cultured separate from the Algae partner. I repeat myself, but in these amazing plants, the fungal partner retains moisture and traps what the Algae needs to photosynthesize, feeding both partners. 

Hamamelis 'Angely' again, against a background of H. 'Rochester. 'Rochester' chosen because it seems the earliest to bloom. Around Christmas time. But I had no idea the leaf retention was so bad.  'Angely' does look good, even thought the yellow bloom is duller than that of 'Wisely Supreme', recently shown.

To the left, H. 'Rochester', then the dull yellow 'Angely' and, to the upper right, the bright rust of 'Rochester'. Near the bottom, and hard to see, the yellow and orange of the colored bark shrub Dogwood called 'Midwinter Fire', I believe. As I said before, while these Dogwoods do bloom, they only show the center true yellow flowers, and don't have the large white to red bracts that make Cornus florida and others so famous as landscape trees. 

2/28   A day or so ago I saw the first of the 'Tommy' Crocus in bloom. C. thomasanianna maybe. This has been an especially cold and long Winter, so they are actually later than in past years. 

The flowers are smaller than many sorts available, but the others don't multiply here, like this species does. The others last a few years, but that's all. These are scattered everywhere. Why the others go is a mystery. I still might plant some of them for the few years they endure. 

Once again disappointed that the other video, I wanted to show, is too large for this system. It showed the 5 male Cardinals near the bird feeder. They bury the hatchet and coexist in the cold months, but will soon compete and come close to fighting, in efforts to set up their nesting territory. Which they defend by singing their songs, in warning. But they still cannot tolerate another on the actual perch of the bird feeder. I have seen as many as 14 involved with the feeder, 13 sitting, waiting, and more or less taking turns at the actual perch stick on the feeder. When I took Biology in 10th grade, I knew I wanted to teach it. And so I did for 39 years, and try to, still. Most interested don't know that the Cardinals will be even more brilliant in a short time. Less bright edges of each feather will fall off and they will be even more brilliant, at mating season. Soon, actually.