New Year's Resolution

The last several months of 2019 were a busy time for me and so, although I took photos as the garden moved from the bright colours of summer into the jewel tones of fall, I never found the time to post them.
My resolution for 2020 is to keep this record going with at least one post every month. We shall see.

A heavy snowfall to start the year off left little to see.

Still, I was surprised at how well the oak leaf hydrangea weathered its load, considering that it hadn't dropped its autumn leaves. Their russet tints made a nice contrast with their caps of snow at a time when any colour at all is welcome.

Of course, the snow only enhanced structural plants like our ancient pear.

Without the snow, its coating of lime-green moss and blue-grey lichen continues to keep it attractive, particularly to birds like juncos and chickadees who pick their way through the branches in search of edible tidbits.

My homemade chickadee nesting box on the trunk has only once been occupied in five years, but I put it out every winter in hopes of new residents.

Along the front of the house, we piled snow from the sidewalk against the bottom of the lavender hedge to try to support the somewhat brittle stems. They will need an additional pruning this spring to bring them back to a compact shape.

Rather to my surprise, the stems of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' in the bed behind the lavender are demonstrating an unsuspected sturdiness. This is such a good plant for year-round value. Here it is last fall with leaves turning yellow and flowers deepening from sultry pink to dark crimson.

The flowers are a rich brown now, nothing special at any other time of year but a pleasing contrast to so much winter grey and white.

Fortunately, the weather has warmed in the last few days and the snow has melted rapidly to reveal signs of spring already. Winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) are always first to bloom, ahead of even the snowdrops. This is not really surprising once you know that "hyemalis" means "of winter". (When I studied Latin in school, I had no idea what an asset it would be to me as a gardener later in life.)

There are buds on most of the hellebores too, though H. 'Jacob', the only one that has opened so far, has been stripped of every bloom by slugs. Still there are other, more resistant ones on the verge of flowering, like 'Pink Frost' and a plant that I bought, sad and unlabelled in a big box store clearance, that is responding well to better conditions. I think might be 'Jade Tiger'.

Hellebore 'Pink Frost'

Hellebore 'Jade Tiger'?

Perhaps the most consistently satisfying plant in this gloomy season has been Mahonia 'Winter Sun'.
When it first began to bloom in late October, my 'Lykkefund' rose was wreathing it in festive red berries.

The flowers are falling now, but it's still a cheerful sight and still draws an occasional hummingbird to siphon off the last of its nectar.