Our first substantial snow of the season arrived yesterday, but it never measured up to what was promised ( nearly 24″ or more and blizzard warnings), we only recieved 6 or 7 inches but it was enough to make the landscape feel a bit more seasonal. Here, a yellow-needled pine glows against the white new fallen snow.
View of the deck with potted shrubs and alpine troughs all covered with snow.
In the greenhouse, the first Clivia is blooming. The first is this seedling of ‘Moondrops’ that we brought back from Japan ten years ago. It’s one of my favorite inter-specific crosses, and it will change color over time as the flowers age. At this stage, they are very green and peach.
Other clivia species are just budding. This Clivia X ‘Christmas Candoll’ is just setting bud, with almost 7 buds emerging. This old plant is from seed that I purchased from Thompson & Morgan in the late 1980’s, and it has small red blossoms that are pendulous.
Outside again, the potted shrub look nicer in the snow than they did a week ago, so I thought that I would show them again.
Coral Bark Maple
In the greenhouse, the sun is warm, which reminds me that the days are at least starting to get longer even though you can’t notice it. With near hurricane force winds and blizzard conditions two nights ago, I was concerned about the glass since trees surround the greenhouse, and the temperatures were cold, at around 10 degrees F. The single pane glass is fragile, but inside, all seemed well. Above, one of the sand bulb beds , the large leaved plant show how big the foliage on the the Brunsvigia bosmaniae that bloomed in September has become. It enjoys all the sun it can get.
In the warm sun, all one can smell is the scent of almond pudding, thanks to a large Osmanthus fragrans which is in bloom. I planted it into the ground, so that it can grow into a large tree, and the fragrance is sublime. There is nothing like walking into a greenhouse in the depths of winter, to feel the warm sunshine and the fragrant plants, and this, one of the most fragrant at this time of year.
Pretty!
Looks great!