Leap Year Stirrings

White crocus.

 

We have an extra day in February this year to enjoy, and it seems the first signs of spring are stirring--I wanted to write this special post to commemorate the Leap Year. So many varieties of crocuses are blooming in both front and back yards! Last fall I planted some species crocuses along the back bed; the one above is a lovely snow-white.

 

Front yard with crocuses.

Deep purple 'Tommies" (Crocus thommasinianus)

Yellow species crocus

Feathered species crocus.

The pale lilac "Tommies" in the front garden are looking blowsy, as the deep purple ones begin their show. Odd, how some varieties prefer to bloom a bit later, even with the same exposure--this happens every year! My Winter Aconite has yet to sprout, I hope the voles didn't eat them all.

The deer (or maybe rabbits?) chomped off most of the snow drops, but I did get to enjoy them for a few days at the beginning of their bloom cycle. I hope they'll multiply to eventually become nice clumps.

The February Gold daffodils have started to open, and the other narcissi are popping up. The hyacinths are starting to break ground too.

 

'February Gold' daffodils

Hyacinth buds

I even found one tiny Siberian Squill blooming in the east bed.

 

Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica)

 

I'd been hoping my Hellebores would be starting to bloom soon, but the buds are still closed up tight. Yesterday's rain will help.

 

Hellebore ' Flower Girl'

 

My 'Queen Charlotte' violet is reviving and has some flowers. It's been trying to spread, but the deer eat most of the plantlets that grow outside of its protective wire cloche.

 

Violet 'Queen Charlotte' (Viola odorata 'Queen Charlotte')

Last weekend I entered my painting of the native Pink Lady Slippers in the Virginia Orchid Society's show at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and received the third prize in the professional category--a number of my fellow artists from the Central Virginia Botanical Artists Circle also received awards. 

I couldn't resist buying this miniature orchid from one of the vendors there, the tiniest Encyclia I've ever seen--the pseudobulbs are about 3/4" and so is the tiny fading flower. The grower had labeled this as Epidendrum polybulbon, but when I looked it up, the genus has been changed to Encyclia.

The miniature Encyclia requires a lot of moisture, so I've put it in the master bath with my other orchids, next to a couple of bromeliads. I hope I can keep it alive long enough to paint it, perhaps even get it to re-bloom!

Encyclia polybulbon orchid.

 

I can't wait to see what the month of March will bring--will it come in as a lion or as a lamb?

Gardener's Bloom Day February 2024

'Tommy' Crocuses (Crocus 'Thomasinianus')

Tommies under the cherry tree in front.

It's the fifthteenth of the month again! Garden Blogger's Bloom Day--hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden blog is here. As expected, after the recent warm weekend there are plenty of spring crocuses popping up in my garden. Showiest are the 'Tommies' I planted years ago that have been multiplying to form these lovely clumps. Yes, I know I should dig up that dandelion there next to the Tommies, shame on me!

 

White crocus

More species crocuses

My snowdrops have finally started to come up! I planted these Galanthus elwesii ' Mount Everest' last fall, inspired by Carol's photos of her beautiful snowdrops--it was one spring bulb that my garden lacked completely. Eventually I hope these will form clumps like hers.

 

My snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii 'Mount Everest')

I also planted some winter aconite, but those have yet to come up. There is a wonderful spot at Blandy Farm Virginia State Arboretum that has a broad expanse of these lovely early flowers that I'm hoping to eventually re-create here in my garden. Here is a shot of some of the ones at Blandy.

 

Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)

My Hellebore 'Flower Girl' is sporting its first buds. The buds of my other Hellebore, 'True Love' are barely perceptible, but you can see them just emerging.

Hellebore 'Flower Girl'

Hellebore 'True Love'

 

My hybrid witchhazel 'Diane' is showing its reddish blossoms, and the native witchhazel too. Both of these were planted as very small saplings; I hope to be able to get rid of the deer barrier later on this year as "Diane' gets taller.

Witchhazel 'Diane'

Native witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

Hard to believe that this is what my back yard looked like just two days ago on Tuesday morning after the overnight rain turned to snow!

 

 

But today it's a different story--the green shoots of  Daffodils and Narcissi are popping up--the February Gold' Daffodils will be opening soon! With the weather so changeable at this time of the year, I leave you with this sign filled with hope for the spring blossoms to come.

Green shoots of Daffodils.

Skunk Cabbage Flowers

Skunk Cabbage flowers (Symplocarpus foetida)

Skunk Cabbage flowers.

 

Yesterday I went out with the Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) to a site new to me: the Cool Spring River Campus of Shenandoah University. Cool Spring was the site of a famous battle during the Civil War that took place in 1864, and was acquired by Shenandoah University in 2013 as a way to preserve the historic battlefield. The 195-acre parcel lies along the eastern shore of the Shenandoah River and contains many lovely old trees and fields.

Our excursion focused mainly on the Skunk Cabbage that is currently flowering. The Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetida), a member of the Arum family, produces a curious flower consisting of a spathe that contains a spadix, which has numerous small flowers along its surface.

This plant exhibits one botanical oddity: it is thermogenic--it can generate heat from cellular respiration alone. The flowers, which emerge in early spring, can melt snow on the ground. This allows the spadix inside the ovoid-shaped spathe to maintain a constant temperature up to 20 degrees higher than the ambient air, for optimal development of the flowers. The female flowers in each spadix mature first, then the stamens emerge, thus preventing self-pollination.

 

Skunk Cabbage Spathes emerging from the muddy ground.

The morning started out with a bit of rain, but by afternoon, when we assembled, the rain had stopped and it was unseasonably warm--about 64 degrees. Gradually the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful afternoon. 

There wasn't much to see here--botanically speaking--except for the Skunk Cabbage, so after a while I peeled off from the group and got my sketching gear from the car while the rest went on to explore the trail along the river. 

 

Field sketch of Skunk Cabbage flowers, watercolor, 6" x 9".

 

I set up right by the first couple of flowers--the stinky scent was perceptible, particularly the pollen when touched, but it was not overwhelming, thank heaven. Bees were buzzing around the flowers, despite the fact that they smell like carrion and are supposed to be pollinated by beetles or other ground insects. The colors, particularly the mottling, were challenging, and the shapes too. I spent about an hour creating my small sketch. By then the sun was coming out, but it was a bit late to rejoin the VNPS group, they were just returning from the river trail.

 

The river bank

I continued on the trail along the river on my own. There were many lovely old trees here, many of them Sycamore maples of noble proportions, and many people were about, enjoying the first stirrings of spring. It hadn't rained for a couple of weeks, and the water was crystal-clear.

 

Old Sycamore maples along the river.

Trail along the Shenandoah River.

I got back to the parking lot a little after four, as the clouds were starting to move in again, and headed home. This is a promising new area for botanical sketching, I hope to return when the spring ephemerals begin to emerge.