Bogturtle's Garden- December 2025

  

My daughter moved most of the Christmas and Thanksgiving Cacti, and one African Violet, to this dining table, and are really thriving. Surprised that the Violet is budding again.

Edgeworthia chrysantha will bloom with fragrant flowers in Spring, and will hold these silvery buds. Makes the plant attractive all Winter.

 The green stems of the Kerria are very different in the gray Winter. 

Easy to find lots of colorful decorations for the little landing. In the long window box, on the landing, are twigs of the silvery blue Arizona Cypress 'Blue Ice', some Holly and twigs of the red Colored Bark Dogwood. 

More interesting than attractive, the Siberian Cypress, Microbiota discussata turns rust colored for Winter. An evergreen, supposedy, but so is the southern Swamp Cypress and the Tamarack tree from the North. They both turn yellow or amber for Winter, I believe. 

I may post, here, a photo of the magnificent display Longwood Gardens somehow manages, of this decidous Holly, Ilex verticillata. Longwood some how avoids the migratory Robins that are, already, responsible for half the berries being gone, here. The red is the sort called 'Red Sprite', being somewhat dwarf, and the yellow 'Autumn Gold'. There was the needed male sort, here, but I don't see it now. I think it was the sort called 'Raritan Chief' and its bloom needs to coincide with the bloom of the female, for berries to come.  It must be here, or some male wild sort must be local, or the little insects could not have made the needed transfer of pollen. And down by the creek I have seen berried females, so wild transfer may happen. 

Really a Winter wonderland. The two Hollies, topped to give more Sun to the roof, for solar panels that never came, and the Viburnum 'Popcorn' show the recent 3" snow.

Old enough to have seen, in a theatre, the Alfred Hitchcock movie, 'The Birds', but it did not come to mind until the comment was made about these being disconcerting. And that movie was never seen by the speaker. A mix that could be Red-Winged Blackbirds with, possibly, Cowbirds and Grackles. 

Truly surprised by this single bloom showing up on the silver leaved clone of Cyclamen hederaceae. Not like the hothouse Cyclamen, the bloom is hardly more that 3/4 of a inch across.  I'm sure its a Spring bloomer, so should not be blooming so early. I did not recall that it would have the normal pink flowers, as I order white, if I can. The leaves showed up in Fall, and will disappear for Summer. The plant is in the crescent of blocks that holds the Roses, just outside the windows of this room.  

 

Considerable damage to the blooms of what I think is Mahonia beallii. Its growing in the bank of shrubs just in front of the lattice that hides the potting bench, across the yard, by the pool. I did not notice an odor, and I do think they have a pleasant one. The weather has been brutal, with temps below 20 F, but today it is above 50.The sort of day when some small flies might appear, that would do the pollination of the Mahonia. 

Quite possibly this big Oppossum lives in the former barn, up in the rafters. I hear noise whenever I walk in, and a Raccoon may be up there also. Never bothered to check, but a little creepy to hear the noises. At any rate, I set out a container of unused gravy, and it was a hit. Today is 12/19, despite what the video date says.