The New Year Has Begun

The new year has begun.  No, we are not confused by the calendar; we look at the garden and see fresh growth on cyclamen, daffodils, sternbergias and many other genera that prefer (as we do) cooler weather.  Osmanthus fill the air with their spicy fragrance.  We leave our chores to stand near them and absorb their incredible scent.  Cercidiphyllum japonicum, the katsura tree near the sunny garden, drops its fragrant leaves from late summer until fall, we have enjoyed them for months.  

We work slowly through the fall gardens looking for tender plants, such as alpinias, agaves, and our favorite tender annuals to dig and bring inside.  As we go, we are distracted by many bulbs just beginning to bloom, some with leaves but many without. Narcissus papyraceus subsp. panizzianus, our earliest flowering daffodil, has fully grown gray-green leaves.  We grew it from seed years ago and finally had the courage to plant the bulbs in the garden.  Now we see and smell them in November, usually around Thanksgiving.  

Sternbergias were among our stars on Garden Open Day in early October.  A few sternbergia blossoms remain, growing near the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus, and beneath the metasequoias.  Clusters of Galanthus reginae-olgae have increased, inspiring our vision of future mass plantings.  Galanthus peshmenii, also blooming, is distinguished by the emerging glaucous leaves that accompany its flowers.   

New crocuses appear daily beneath the metasequoias.  They grow throughout the lawn and as far away as the Dianthus Walk. One of the most prolific is Crocus caspius, a species with delicate, near white flowers and pale pink on the backs of their petals.  Many of these crocuses also grow in the woods where Cyclamen hederifolium continues to bloom with masses of flowers in shades of near burgundy to pure white. The rock garden is home to Crocus speciosus, one of the larger flowered species, with flowers in shades of blue-purple.  Many of these plants are seedlings from a small sack of bulbs we planted more than thirty years ago.  The white form grows along the cyclamen path in the woods where we also see the slender leaves of winter-flowering Narcissus romieuxii ssp. albidus.  

As we don warmer layers, and our days shift to cool season tasks, we are delighted daily by the return of long dormant plants.  Flowers continue to emerge throughout this new season.  Fall is the beginning of our gardening year.