Winter Respite

Albert Camus wrote "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer".  Well, good for Camus, but I couldn't find a single shred of summer in me yesterday after two straight days of drizzle.

The antidote? An hour in the Witt Winter Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum, where the air is laden with sweet scents even this first week of January.  Flowers, color, hummingbirds, fragrance all reassured me that the earth is alive, the plants are growing, and springtime will return.

You can stay warm and dry indoors and enjoy Bridget and my expedition...Can you believe all this is going on out there right now during the darkest depths of winter?

Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn' has supremely fragrant little pink flowers

Yellow twig dogwood (Cornus stolonifera 'Flaviramea') set into black mondo grass

 

The gold-splashed leaves of Elaeagnus pungens ‘Maculata’ light up a shady pathway.
  

Winter blooming mahonia feed our native Anna's hummingbirds

 

Sarcococca's tiny white flowers smell sweetly of vanilla 

Helleborus foetidus flower early and long

 

Anyone know what earliest blooming rhododendron this might be? 

Enjoy the spidery flowers of the witch hazels (Hamamelis spp.) - I just wish this was a scratch-and-sniff blog so you could inhale their clean, astringent fragrance...

 

 

Comments

[Richie Steffen]

The early blooming rhododendron is a bit of a mystery. I think it is labeled as Rhododendron arboreum hybrid at the Witt Winter Garden, but it blooms much earlier than any Rh. arboreum. It could be a hybrid called 'Lee's Scarlet'. but it has been years since I have seen this plant in bloom, but it would be one of the few rhodies that would be showing color this early.

[valerie Easton]

Thanks, Richie. I just looked up a photo of 'Lee's Scarlet' and it could well be that one - so amazing to see it blooming the first week of January...
Val

[Sylvia Matlock]

Val, what a inspring reminder of how diverse and beautiful a winter garden can be. Sylvia @ DIG

[Debra Davis]

Wow. It's amazing that there is garden life just a little over an hour's drive to the west. Here the ground has been frozen for weeks, and crusty snow blankets the yard. I have always admired the witch hazel shrubs, but I don't think they would do well in my Cle Elum garden. Thanks for the glimpse!

[valerie Easton]

Hi Debra,
Witch hazels are extremely hardy, surviving in zone 5 and even into zone 4. I think they'd probably thrive in CleElum, although probably bloom a bit later than on this side of the mountains.

If you decide to try a witch hazel, you might look for Hamamelis mollis 'Pallida' which blooms especially early with fragrant yellow flowers....
al

[brenda the garden gal]

thanks for brightening my grey and wet, water logged day

[Justin]

May be this rhody: Rhododendron arboreum ssp. Delavayi
http://www.rhododendron.org/descriptionS_new.asp?ID=9

[Robert Zimmermann]

I think the rhododendron is Lee's Scarlet -- not very scarlet but wonderfully early. Here at the nursery we have several rhodies opening, R. moupinense being the most exciting right now. R. gongshanense is also ready to pop.

Bob Zimmermann
Chimacum Woods

[valerie Easton]

thanks, Bob - Richie Steffen thinks it's probably 'Lee's Scarlet' too - that rich, rosy pink is a gorgeous color in the winter landscape.

I appreciate your expertise on this -
Val

[Lorene Edwards Forkner]

We always start New Years day with a walkabout through the arboretum starting at the Witt Garden. I was so shocked to find the GIANT ELM tree gone! Love your photos and I swear I caught a whiff of the sarcococca!!!