november blooms ..

this flower is in bloom today .. it is a vibirnum bodnantense .. there are two of these flowering shrubs in the winter flowering shade garden .. one lives in a a light filled area that gets a bit of sun from time to time in the afternoon .. the other lives in the front yard, at the base of a small cedar tree, in a relatively shaded raised bed .. there was more light there until the cedar branches started growing longer and sweeping downwards .. now there's a bit more shade than this little guy likes .. so, time to prune back cedar branches ..

it's always interesting to me to see how different plants respond to different environments .. for instance, in this shaded garden the amount of light makes all the difference between how these two vibirnums perform .. the one that receives more light has maybe 30 blossoms on it this year .. the most i've seen on it .. the other has three .. i just read some notes i had from 2000 and this same vibirnum, with three blossoms, had fifteen that year .. and, i know of another vibirnum bodnantense that lives in full sun, and explodes with hundreds of flowers, usually a bit later in the season .. so interesting .. the subtleties of this garden have endeared me to it since i first began to recognize them with phil .. even now, seeing a witchhazel bud cracking open to reveal the tiniest bit of colour puts me into a state of complete wonderment ..

this vibirnum that i took the pictures of put out flower buds weeks ago, and they are slowly, slowly opening to eventually show us what they've been hiding in there .. a deciduous shrub, vibirnums drop their leaves in autumn .. the round, plump pink and white flower buds stretch out eventually forming little circlets of flowers dangling, as if in mid air, from the tips of branches .. and the fragrance .. oo-la-la .. when i came around the corner of the house this morning a wafting of intense perfume curled around me .. how delightful to bask in the fragrance for just a few seconds ..

here's a shot of buds opening .. another flower on the same shrub .. i love these guys ..


and, although not blooming yet, here is promise of many blooms to come on the witchhazel (hamammelis mollis 'pallida') .. she is loaded with these curls of flower buds .. i can hardly wait until december, january, or whenever it decides to open .. naturally, i'll be taking photos ..



now, on to a wider view .. today was the day that i managed to clean up the last of the leaves and fir needles in front and down the side of the house .. the leaves go into the bins, and the fir needles onto the pathways to make them soft for walking, and keep the weeds at bay .. and still there are many thousands of leaves and needles to rake on the other side of the house, but they'll be there when i get back next week ..