Happy 2015!! Right now I’ve got fireworks of my own in the garden–a Mahonia is blooming!
Blooming Mahonia
I was so excited to find this the other day, I love how the little yellow flowers look like exploding fireworks.
Bees Love the Mahonia Flowers
When I went out today to take some more pictures, I noticed it was covered in bees! It was very warm today (upper 60s!) so I was able to do quite a bit of exploring and picture taking.
Detail Mahonia Flowers
I also realized that this Mahonia is different from the other two I have. Their common name is Oregon Holly, but I think this yellow-blooming verson may be a leatherleaf Mahonia.
Mahonia in Bloom
The Mahonia in the side yard looks like this right now:
Another Mahonia
The bloom stalks are shorter, and the flowers are darker. I may have even missed the blooms on this variety. I think this is also the same variety as what is in the lower garden, seen here (taken November 2013):
Oregon Grape Holly
I’m actually going to break this post up into two (one for next week), because there is SO much going on out there right now! Even though the winter garden isn’t as colorful as the rest of the year, it is sophisticated with a more muted palate, plenty of evergreens, interesting dried forms, and food for wildlife. My heart lifts with excitement for all that I find, including some early signs of Spring.
Holly Trees with Red Berries
I found the two larger Holly trees do have red berries on them! For whatever reason though, I could not get a good, in-focus shot of the berries. And while I was looking at these, I found a white berried Nandina right next to it.
White Nandina Berries
The red-berried variety is common, and I have several stands of it all over the yard (at least in five different locations).
Nandina in Front Dec 2014
The white-berried variety is not as common, and I only have one little stand of it. It’s hard to get to as well, so I’m not entirely sure how big the plant is.
My own Sensitive Fern beads
After looking up more information on the Sensitive Fern, growing in my mom’s garden, I realized that I had some as well. I was able to find some of the “Beads” growing in a far corner of the property, by the stream.
Japanese Yew
It’s growing nearby this Japanese Yew. I’ve taken pictures of it before, but I feel as though it gets lost in its surrounding due the thin, fine leaves. It’s got an interesting form, but with the help of a piece of mat board, I got a better detail shot.
Japanese Yew and Nandina
Here’s a shot farther back, and see what I mean about it disappearing? The Yew is to the left of the Nandina (with red berries). I am so glad I found this piece of scrap mat board (gray with black core), because it’s great to use as a backdrop in taking detailed shots outside.
Rainbow Leucothoe
Here’s another shot of the Rainbow Leucothoe (this one is in the front yard). Aren’t the colors wild?
Tip of Hydrangea
And here’s the tip of a mophead hydrangea. This type of hydrangea blooms on old wood- and this tip is what will bloom next summer. This year, none of my mophead hydrangeas in the main garden bloomed because the tips froze last Spring. The varieties I have in my garden are generally well suited for the climate in this area, but last year we had a long, cold winter and had some hard freezes very late. It sounds as though that may be more of the new norm here, so I will probably need to find a way to protect my buds.
Deciduous Barberry Bush
This is the barberry bush now–which at first worried me that it was losing its leaves because I thought it was an evergreen bush. I also couldn’t find any pictures of this area from last winter, and couldn’t remember it losing it’s leaves before. But a little searching and I found out that there are deciduous Barberry bushes. Upon closer inspection, I thought it looked like it still had life in it.
Barberry Detail
See the barbs? The little orange clusters look healthy to me. But now see the difference in the shot when I use my nice piece of mat board.
Detail Barberry Bush in winter
The only thing I haven’t noticed on my bush is any berries. Either it didn’t have any this year, or the animals have already eaten them all.
Not Dead Yet Azalea
Another bush I was worried about was this small azalea. I know I’ve lost at least one azalea this year, but it looks like there is still life in this little one. I found a couple of new green sprouts towards the bottom, and come late Spring I’ll know what I will need to trim back. I’ve heard that azaleas can be hard to kill, and I couldn’t imagine what I could have done this year to make these established plants die. I do think that it was a dry summer though, and we did not have the irrigation system turned on, so I think a number of plants didn’t get quite as much water as they may have been used to.
Baby Sprouts on the Butterfly Bush
And one last picture for this post– some new sprouts on a butterfly plant. I just noticed these the other day, and realized that on both butterfly bushes, there are lots of light blue-green leaves growing on the older wood. I thought they usually didn’t start growing until Spring, but I guess I was wrong. There is always going to be something to learn!
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