colours of winter ..

forgive my gloating .. it's just that i'm so thankfull to i live where i can watch so many  gardens growing throughout the winter .. thankfull to have helped phil plant this garden which he designed specifically with winter in mind .. and thankfull to observe the magic of growth here from january right through to december .. i know, i know .. i'm a blessed gardener .. (aren't we all) .. sometimes i wonder why i waited so long to get here .. ah, well .. all things in their time, i say ..

"there's so much to say"

so i've been keeping an eye on the winter flowering garden over the last couple of weeks .. through foggy .. damp .. wet .. and cold weeks .. knowing that the time has come for this year's performance .. watching the prelude .. waiting patiently for the main performance .. and now my reward .. the winter flowering garden's beginning to ooooze more and more colour .. despite the weather ..

i have to tell you again, too, that i've had a wonderfully enlightening time with the witch hazels in this garden this year .. two in particular .. below are pictures of hamamelis x intermedia 'diane' .. who deemed to begin her act way back in november .. i was delighted .. "such early colour," i thought .. "i can hardly wait until she drops her tendrils" .. well .. i waited .. from november last year until now .. and actually .. i am still waiting ..

buds crack end november/12 .. 

around january 10/13 ..

january 23rd .. or thereaabouts 

movement has been slow .. to say the least .. especially when comparing 'diane' to her cousin just across the way .. below is a picture of what the buds of hamamelis mollis 'pallida' looked like in november ..

around november 28th ..

then in december .. the buds are as tightly wrapped as they were a month ago ..

december 24th ..

but then .. come the new year .. there's a shift in the atmosphere .. colour breaks .. and   comes tumbling out .. beautifull ..

january 16th ..

a mere week  later .. voila! .. tendrils tendrilling .. red flowers emerging .. wonderfull ..

i don't recall ever being so aware of the difference in the movement of growth between these two beauties before .. it fascinates me .. and yet .. that's why this garden is here .. to bloom during the winter .. to entertain the senses ..

and, it isn't just the witch hazels that are playing their part .. the cyclamen coum have arrived, too .. i love these little beauties .. they're clustered throughout the garden .. under shrubs .. around hellebores .. and they pop up here and there .. like this very light pink variety growing under an abeliophyllum distichum in the back yard ..

cyclamen coum ..

and this lovely darker pink one which grows en masse in the front garden .. this one opened right up just the other day .. the first of many yet to come ..

pink cyclamen coum ..

not far away in the same bed under the witch hazel 'pallida' are these beautifull  snowdrops .. this particular one comes very early in the winter ..

snowdrops ..

all these little guys, who live closer to the ground, create patterns of vivid colour under the shrubs throughout the garden .. throughout the winter months .. little by little there are splashes of brilliant colour coming .. through these darker .. dimmer days ..

and truly .. it's only january .. there's a couple of months of winter to go ..

how about your garden? .. do you have the opportunity to watch it growing during the winter? .. or, is it quietly encased in snow ..

hellebores emerge ..

in the winter garden hellebores are a foundational plant .. they provide an evergreen backdrop for many of the other perennials' performances .. from spring into summer .. autumn into winter .. they are steadfast in their presence .. and .. they have their moments of glory as well .. this one above .. helleborus niger 'white magic' shines more brightly every day .. it's a real trooper .. beginning with it's white buds rising up out of the earth as early as november it heralds the appearance of other hellebores to come ..

like this one .. helleborus foetidus .. who recently dropped its first bud from an tightly woven elongated green cluster .. 'foetidus' meaning 'stinking' in latin .. thus, this is the stinking hellebore .. i, however, wouldn't be able to testify to any unpleasant fragrance coming from these .. maybe i'm too wrapped up in their visuals .. i find the foetidus spectacular performers .. they provide me with months of peering as they ever so slowly come into their own ..

below is another variety of helleborus niger .. this one is actually growing in the new hellebore/twin flower bed in our back garden at home .. i found this little beauty in the local grocery store's floral department on sale last autumn .. it had a lovely cluster of flower buds which i've been watching for weeks .. anticipating the cracking of the bud .. the revelation of itself as a flower .. wonderfull ..

there's quite a lot going on in the winter garden these days .. even though all the movement that is going on is barely visible it won't be long before entry to the garden will evoke a sense of springtime .. even in our winter months .. along with the hellebores, a few other perennials and shrubs are beginning to awaken .. there are flower buds presenting themselves all around the garden ..

like these cyclamen coum buds that soon will be standing up straight .. like little soldiers ..  pink buds will begin their unfurling .. transforming the little soldiers into a whirling .. twirling .. ballerinas ..



meanwhile .. the witch hazels carry on with their own dance of life .. amazingly enough, the first one to present its colour .. back in november .. was hamamelis intermedia 'diane' .. she cracked open her buds and flashed out a tease of brilliant red .. then sat in that pose .. for weeks .. now, two months later she 'suddenly' looks like this ..

as brilliant .. as red .. as before .. yet now you can see how the tendrils are going to unfold out of that incredible confined space .. isn't it intriguing how they tuck themselves up inside there ..

then .. there's the hamamelis mollis 'pallida' .. whose tight little buds have remained tightly closed .. even though they've been present as long as diane's .. until just in the last week they've cracked their buds open and the yellow tendrils have already come out to begin the performance .. relatively speaking, the quickness with which the 'pallida' has appeared is like lightening speed in comparison to 'diane' .. it's magical really ..

it's brilliance in action .. i love it .. and how wonderfull to peer at these mysteries .. to observe the movement of life through a witch hazel ..

peace .. love .. happiness .. in 2013 ..

i'm a great believer in everything in its own time .. in the inevitability of life that all things come .. or work out .. when conditions are absolutely perfect .. and there's the kicker, isn't it .. 'when conditions are perfect' .. not when i think whatever it is is supposed to happen .. oh, no .. been there a million times in my life .. no.sir.ee .. doesn't even come close to how life actually works .. much as i might like to think to the contrary there's no forcing life .. it comes in its own time .. when conditions are just right .. then .. presto! .. everything magically and easily moves towards a perfect outworking .. i've seen it happen many times ..

for instance .. one place this principle is at work is in the forests here on the island .. when absolutely every factor necessary for its appearance is in place out comes the spotted coral root .. an absolutely magical plant that stays underground until just the perfect number of fir needles .. or moisture .. or shade .. or moss .. or any other unknown factors gather to provide the perfect environment .. and .. there you are out wandering about the woods .. when you look down and see it .. right where  you've walked hundreds of times before .. but now .. the time is ripe for this ethereal little being to show itself .. )wish i had a photo but am trusting you get my drift ..)

yet, here i am having been witness to such magic .. still thinking .. from time to time .. that i know how it's all supposed to be .. thinking that i can force things to happen by sheer will and determination .. i've even got my little box all ready to stuff it into .. whatever 'it' might be in the moment .. and then .. trust me .. it's blood .. sweat .. and tears .. with just the right amount of grunting and groaning .. cursing and stomping of feet .. trying .. with all my might .. to make things happen that simply aren't ready to happen .. it's a fruitless endeavour really .. not sure why i don't give up on it .. however .. over the years .. and much to my delight .. my experience of patience has grown .. i've even made it to the point, lately, when i can step back .. take my hands off .. and put my trust into the natural  outworking of life .. be patient .. and witness the outworking ..

now my friend, phil .. there was a patient man .. he knew he was on the way to breathing his last breath .. yet he was intent on creating a garden where one hadn't existed before .. and not only that, but a garden that would bloom in the darker days of winter .. in the shade of tall evergreen trees .. and, so .. with such a specific criteria each and every plant was carefully .. and lovingly .. researched with a view as to blooming between september and april .. whether or not they'd thrive in shade .. and how much space they'd require to grow to their full potential .. eventually .. years later ..  in fact, many years after phil passed on ..

i planted many of the plants in this garden .. i know what went into choosing each one .. the patience required to pore over gardening books .. make careful notes .. think .. and finally to choose each plant .. knowing that they'd be there for years to come .. after seeing many other gardens planted chock-a-block full of plants .. or planted helter skelter .. ( like my own at the time) .. i was intrigued .. and inspired .. by phil's conscious regard to the placement of plants in this garden .. even so .. they were planted much farther apart than my mind determined they "should" be .. i admit ..  i was a bit skeptical at first .. i hadn't yet gained the patience required to know about such things .. but phil knew .. he knew that with time .. and patience .. each plant in the garden would fill its alloted space .. and so they are ..

phil wasn't interested in forcing anything to happen .. even though he knew he wouldn't be here to see his creation unfold .. while he was here he was happy to simply watch the garden grow .. and now, more than  fifteen years later  i'm still here .. and i continue to watch this garden grow .. and flourish .. and i delight in the fact that slowly .. and steadily .. the space is filling in .. i think maybe i'm beginning to understand what is meant by the saying that "patience is a virtue" ..

i don't usually make new years' resolutions .. however .. as the new year draws closer i resolve that throughout this year .. in the garden .. and in my everyday .. i will continue to cultivate patience and put my faith in the power of life .. to unfold as it will ..

happy new year to you all ..