witch hazel progression ..

this fellow above cracked open a number of weeks ago .. in november, in fact .. teasing me with its brilliance of colour .. as if ready to ooze out .. spilling tendrils of crepe papery red .. well .. not yet .. here i am weeks later .. watching .. waiting .. it appears to have cracked and stopped right then and there .. yet i know it's still growing .. sloooowwwwlllly she goes .. and i'm there .. checking it every second day or so .. sometimes every day .. and still she sits .. buds cracked .. a brilliant red promise ..

there's a bit of a lovely story that goes along with this witch hazel .. it used to live out behind the house .. once phil wasn't able to get out as much, we decided to move it around to where he'd be able to see it .. and .. because it has a lovely elongated growth form we decided to espalier it against the fence .. mixed in with the strong, straight green stalks of winter jasmine .. how lovely they would be growing and blooming together, we said .. brilliant red and bright winter yellow .. well, i think one year since we moved it, i saw one jasmine flower and one or two witch hazel flowers .. and not even very close together at that .. but .. it had worked .. and because phil and i believed in the potential for it to work .. and because we knew that plants can take years to adapt .. i am still hopeful that the lovely image we had of these two growing together will one day manifest itself along the fence .. i'm willing to wait for it ..

there's also, around the corner .. this other bright bit of witch hazel yellow coming on .. hamamelis x intermedia 'arnold promise' .. what a little beauty .. these branches and buds remind me of the fleur de lis symbol .. standing upright and curling at the same time .. tanis and i just transplanted this fellow last autumn, so i'm delighted to see these buds .. wasn't sure it would flower this year .. the one has a strong .. almost pungent .. citrusy fragrance to go along with the brightness of the yellow .. 

and finally .. here comes the star performer .. you can just see the yellowness of the buds beginning to show .. this is hamamelis mollis 'pallida' .. the star by right of placement .. they're all stars in this garden .. last year this tree was dazzling in it's brilliance .. there were hundreds .. possibly thousands of butter yellow tendrils falling out of the buds .. this year not quite so many .. but i've noticed that there are a few  plants out there that like to take a break after putting out so much energy for an extravaganzic (is that a word?) performance .. 

that's okay .. the performance this year won't be a let down .. i can assure you .. by the time the tendrils have dropped .. spilling out their fragrance .. the yard will be alive with witch hazel show .. as well as many other star performers .. i'll keep you posted ..

do you have witchhazels in your garden .. ? ..

what 's blooming .. december 5/12

right now the vibirnum bodnantense is beginning to bloom .. there are several buds on both plants now .. full of the promise of what is to come .. and then there are these two beautifull blooms that have come out ahead of the rest .. one just beginning .. one in its full glory ..

i am intrigued by the life of plants .. for instance, the timing of blooms on a shrub .. what is it that keeps so many buds tight and held to themselves .. and what is it that determines that this one .. or that one .. bloom now ..

when i looked up into the cherry tree this morning .. prunus subhirtella 'autumnalis' .. i felt a bit startled .. is that the word? .. by the first flower .. until this morning what i'd seen when i looked at the cherry was buds .. many buds .. tight and not looking in the least as if they were about to burst .. then, a few days later one flower .. voila!

a light pink burst of colour .. like a beacon of pink-ness .. so sweet ..

then .. i wandered around to the side yard .. the sunny side .. and what did i see but this stunningly brilliant fushia ..

why .. this isn't our 'normal' bloom time for fushia .. usually they are coming into their own in mid to late summer .. yet here it is .. just as if this is where it's supposed to be .. and again .. i am intrigued ..

we've had a warmer autumn and late autumn .. there's no denying that .. but is it just weather that determines when a plant blooms .. is it light .. is it heat .. are there other less tangible factors in place that push one bud to open before another .. is there an order to it all .. ?? .. garden devas perhaps ..

well .. whatever it is .. i am intrigued .. entranced by the magic of it all .. and happy to watch it all unfold .. however and whenever .. i don't think it's really my place to judge .. just to enjoy any flowers blooming this time of the year ..