Longest Night has past, and each day is getting just a little bit longer than the last. The mornings sport a thick frost in Victoria this week, but happily no snow.
photo by SVSeekins
As a reward for braving our winter chill, the snowdrops smile up at me .
Life springs eternal. 🙂
They’re snuggled under some cozy leaves, but I’m sure they’ll be even happier when I add a layer of mulch in the coming week.
photo by SVSeekins
And believe it or not – – there’s more! The first cyclamen coum bloom of the season.
Granted it is super tiny…
and you have to put on special glasses to see it…
but it’s there!
Certainly it’s the talk of gardeners in Brentwood Bay & Saanichton.
Now the mystery is solved. Paul, the gardener, was in attendance when we drove past the other day, so I stopped to chat with him.
He says it’s just a regular heather that started to climb the ground wires of the utility pole. He thought that looked kinda cool, so he encouraged it along by tieing the heather further & further up as it grew. The ties wear out & fall off about the same time as the new branches mature enough to hold themselves in place.
It’s famous, says Paul. The local newspaper reporter also stopped by for the photo-op. Pretty cool, eh?
A couple of years ago, in March, I started noticing patches of tiny blue flowers along the roads of older neighbourhoods. Flowers flourished in areas that hadn’t been manicured for a very long time.
I soon realized these blooming meadows are the naturalized dreams of gardeners past. I’m charmed by that romance.
These hardy bloomers are Glory of Snow, or, if you like unpronounceable names: Chionodoxa. Try to say that easily the first time around! 🙂
Glory of Snow originated in Turkey & Greece – along the Mediterranean. I’ve heard southern Vancouver Island compared to a Mediterranean rain forest, so it makes sense these plants survive well here. What surprises me more is that they’re hardy to zone 4! They can withstand a whole lot more cold. Do these grow in your neck of the woods??
photo by SVSeekins
Aside from naturalizing well, these plants are also valuable to me because they’re:
winter blooming
drought tolerant
low maintenance
Once planted, just leave them to their own devices. How great is that? I’ve even seen them surviving in shallow crevices of rocky outcroppings.
photo by SVSeekins
They seem perfectly happy in lawns, too, although I’ll bet they do better if the grass isn’t cut until late April when they’re done for the season. That would mean it’s more of a meadow than a lawn. C wouldn’t go for that. He likes lush but trim. That’s why I’ve added Glory of Snow as under-story plantings in our shrub border instead.
The best patch I’ve ever encountered is around Dunlop House Restaurant, a heritage building on the grounds of Camosun College, and their Hospitality Management Program facility. C’s mum took us there for supper the other night. The meal was lovely, and the meadow: spectacular!
Garden Variety Life 