Colors of Winter...

It is too cold to write. It is too cold to take pictures. But I am forging ahead any way. (I was just informed that if I was a sculptor, I could forge a head.) I braved the freezing temperatures and the frigid wind and ventured out to capture the colors of winter.

{Buddleja davidii var. nanhoensis 'Nanho Blue'}

I think of winter as being a grey, colorless time of year. Except for my Johnnies, of course. But the past few days, I have been noticing subtle colors.

{Hydrangea macrophylla}

These are definitely not the bold, dashing colors of summer. Or even the sweet, enchanting colors of spring. They are wise, subdued colors, beckoning closer inspection.

{Gaultheria procumbens ‘Red Baron,’}

The leaves of the Creeping Jenny trailing over the edge of an abandoned birdbath have bronzed.

{Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'}

Shifting shadow patterns have sun-burned the camellia's leaves.

{Camellia}

One lone periwinkle bloom hangs on despite the cold.

{Vinca minor}

The underside of the leaves of one of my coral bells shows an astonishing purple.

{Heuchera}

Sunlight glows through the new leaves of one of my pitcher plants.

{Sarracenia}

Delight! Oh, delight! I was thrilled to discover a bud forming for a bloom to come in spring.


Have a beautiful day!

Volunteers...

One of the things I enjoy about plants is the different ways in which they multiply. I love it when they reseed! (Except, of course, when it is the weeds that are reseeding!) It is so exciting to find a little plantlet, like this coral bells (Heuchera) that has reseeded itself in a container near the original plant.




I am careful when I am weeding, always looking to see what else may have reseeded itself. Maybe I will have to move the seedling to a different location, but I always try to keep the plants that have volunteered themselves. Free plants! Can't beat that! In this pot full of weeds, there is a little Johnnie seedling, waiting to be transplanted.



You never know where a seedling will appear. And often they show up in the most charming places. The columbine (Aquilegia) plant my mom gave me several years ago (I tried so hard to kill that plant, but that is another story) has reseeded itself and should bloom this spring.



Have a beautiful day!