Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope everyone has a nice day with their loved ones. I just love being here in the Garden on such a beautiful day. Yesterday was such a lovely rainy day and then we had a nice dusting of snow. Just the right amount for someone my height – a little bit to play in, but not enough to cover me up completely.
The garden has been pleasantly quiet this last week. Many of the gardeners are at the convention center in Virginia Beach, setting up for the Mid-Atlantic Home & Flower Show. I heard one of them say something about they were doing a “Willy Wonka” garden at the show. In any case, I’m just glad so many of them are not here. It’s so nice to relax. There are so few gardeners here and they are so busy with other things, all I have to do when they pass by is nod my head forward. They think I’m just an early blooming miniature daffodil and pay me no mind.
I’ve made my way down to the Winter Garden. This, of course, is a good time to be here. A variety of witch hazels are starting to bloom. Right now it is mostly the copper, red and orange ones, but a nice yellow witch hazel is also blooming. The winter honeysuckle is filling the air with its sweet fruity fragrance but it will get some competition from a daphne and a paperbush - both are starting to bloom. I’m sitting right next to the Corsican hellebore. This plant has chartreuse flowers that stand out from its dark green leaves. I particularly like the leaves – they have a coarse saw-toothed edge that might scare away any gardener that wants to weed me. The little bit of snow on their leaves looks really nice right now. This hellebore is pretty tall compared to the hybrid hellebores found in many gardens – it’s almost 20 inches tall and I hear that it can get taller.
As I sit here in the Winter Garden and watch the snow melt away as the sun streams through the trees, I can’t help but feel how lucky I am to be in the garden during the winter. I’m watching a variety of plants unfold their charms to the few passersby, sharing their scent and modest flowers for anyone willing to venture into the Garden. They are truly the best Valentine ’s Day flowers anyone could have.
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