Bees!

On a woodland slope in Central Park one of my favorite late winter bloomers is once again coming to life. Hamamelis vernalis is commonly called winter witchhazel, a fabulous medium-sized native shrub and the latest of the North American Hamamelis species to bloom.

Every year I seem to take the same shots of these first shrubs and bulbs to throw some color into the late winter landscape. And so as I was approaching my reliable friend for the "hort porn" macro shots I thought to myself, "how can I change it up this year and make these more interesting". Not that the shrub and it's unique spidery flowers aren't amazing in their own right, but you might know what I'm talking about. Well, luckily for me nature stepped in and decided to rock my world. Bees!

As I sniffed the medicinal fragrance that I have come to love about this plant I heard the buzzing. Pulling back I realized the witchhazel was loaded with bees doing their wild dance among the clusters of yellow and maroon flowers. The first bee sighting of the year my focus quickly shifted to these magnificent little pollinators. A few great shots came from the series. Remember, the more native species you incorporate into your garden the more you also support and provide for local bird and insect populations, all good things.

Enjoy, and Happy Almost Spring!

I think this one might take the cake:

(love the sun glowing through the bee's abdomen!)

For more info on Hamamelis visit last years post here.

Hamamelis vernalis: the last days of winter

The Hamamelis vernalis (vernal witchhazel) and Galanthus (snowdrops) have been in flower for a little while now. Thanks to the return of the sunlight little clumps of Crocus have opened to show off their bright yellow stamens amidst delicate cups of white edged in lavender. I cleaned up the ratty leaves of the Helleborus (Hellebores, Lenten Rose) and their blooms are opening rich purple, brilliant white, and green throughout the woodland slope. At last the Iris reticulata are bursting forth, their perfectly proportioned miniature bodies appearing through the debris only a few inches tall. The first shots of color in the late winter landscape are reminding us of the magical season to come. The Narcissus (daffodils) are pushing their foliage, like the little Muscari (grape hyacinth) in front of them. The Tulipa will take more time, but still the green tips of spring life are exhilarating.

Hamamelis vernalis:
--commonly called vernal Witchhazel
--member of the Hamamelidaceae family
--Grows to 6-10' high and greater in spread
--Hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 4-8
--Medium growth rate
--When in leaf provides nice medium texture to a landscape
--Durable woodland plant but is not a big fan of being transplanted once established

Thanks to Michael Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses for factoid conformation. And if you are at all serious about woody plants and/or landscaping, this is a book you must own. -aef

In Bloom This Week

This is Hamamelis (vernalis I think), a kind of witchhazel appropriately called vernal or winter witchhazel. The genus Hamamelis belongs to the family Hamamelidaceae, a small group of flowering shrubs found in eastern North America and eastern Asia. I really like the shot above but the shot below is a little more true to the flower color.
Witchhazels typically grow to 6' to 8' tall and 8'-10'+ wide by their maturity. A dense rounded shrub their big leaves provide a nice medium texture to the landscape in summer and gift us with these spidery flowers in fall and winter depending on the species and/or cultivar. The flowers do have that wonderfully unique fragrance but you often have to get right up to the shrub to really get the full scent. As far as the native species, Hamamelis virginiana is the common species and blooms late fall, whereas this vernal species blooms about now, Febraury into March. The flowers are not the most long-lived, or perhaps you miss them because they are hidden under the dried leaves refusing to fall to the ground, but they are still a pleasant reminder that spring is in fact on it's way. The Asian species, Hamamelis mollis, Hamamelis japonica and their various crosses and cultivars I have seen do fine in full sun but I always thought the native species did better with a little woodland shade. For the most part I find these to be amazing durable shrubs, pretty disease and pest resistant, and hardy in USDA Zones 4-8.

Snowdrops are botanically known as Galanthus, a Eurasian genus of bulbs in the Amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. The name comes from the Greek gala (milk) and anthos (flower) referring to the 6" tall pendulous white flowers.
Galanthus nivalis, the common snowdop, is a European species hardy in Zones 4-9. Like most spring bulbs they like a humus rich soil with good drainage, and they naturalize pretty easily in the landscape. The flat, blue-green leaves emerge first, only to 4" or less, and the flowers follow. When they get hit with a little shot of sun through the dappled shade the outer petals flare out and expose the inner petals. Around here there are usually two species of Galanthus that you find planted, Galanthus nivalis and Galanthus elwesii. The way to tell them apart is that nivalis has just the one green marking at the end of the inner petals while elwesii has a second, larger green dot as well.

References:
Flora, A Gardener's Encyclopedia (Timber Press, 2003)

Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses by Michael A. Dirr (Stipes Publishing, Fifth Edition)