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 ..