My Bloomday posts tend towards the documentary: must make a record of all that is blooming in my garden! Not this month. In case you're just tuning in, things took a turn last Thursday. Here in the western half of the Pacific Northwest we went from no winter, to intense winter in less than 24 hours. Wednesday afternoon I was out putting things undercover in jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt and a sweatshirt, 24 hours later that plus a sweater, winter coat, scarf and gloves still wasn't quite enough. What follows will be a somewhat sketchy look at the blooms in my garden this February...
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Back on the 3rd I made use of a new to me pottery bowl and did the hellebore flower float thing. ![]()
We enjoyed that so much I made another right before the hellebores were all buried under snow and ice...
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Here's what the buried version looks like, my three newest plants are under that snow, photo from Friday the 12th, it got deeper, much deeper.![]()
The Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold' blooms were celebrating their sunny, bright glory on the 10th...![]()
They're a little less vibrant at 25 degrees with an ice topper. This photo from Saturday the 13th, as I write this on the morning of the 14th we're being told there is an ice storm headed our way. (*update on the 15th, oh boy did we get ice, I can't even get to this plant to take a photo it's so deep and slick, sadly the plant is splayed out in odd ways*)![]()
Sadly the Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Akebono' has bent over, closer and closer to the ground. These buds were at eye-level, now I look down on them. It's going to require some staking to get upright again.![]()
The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) looks a little deflated, but the blooms are still still intact, no scent at the moment.![]()
Arctostaphylos x ‘Austin Griffiths' stands tall as the snow and ice accumulates all around (*again, that was then, it's not quite so tall on the 15th, bent under the weight of the ice now*).
Although some of the flower clusters seem to have given up and just fallen...![]()
Just last week I noticed the Daphne x houtteana was about to erupt in bloom, now it's covered in snow and ice.![]()
Interesting to note the bottom two steps have disappeared into the snow and most of the daphne has as well.![]()
One last set of blooms to share—from the warm, snow-free, basement—those of Dendrochilum smithianum (pulcherimum). This orchid on a stick turns out to be a very reliable bloomer for me, in fact last year I hooked up the iPhone camera magnifier and managed a close-up of those tiny flowers, click over here to see them.![]()
That's it from my snowy and icy Portland, Oregon, garden. Visit May Dreams Gardens for the usual Garden Bloggers Bloomday run-down.
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Weather Diary, Feb 14: Hi 31, Low 27/ Precip .53 is the official total, most of that freezing rain
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