When the cedar waxwings arrive for their annual feast of the Savannah holly berries, I know spring has arrived. Nature has it’s own rhythm, and I can almost tell time by her if I pay attention. I thought the birds were early this year, but in reading my past journals they are right on time. Why would I even question Mother Nature?? After all, she points the way to God. Why would I doubt that???

It’s grand to watch the flock swoop in and out of the holly branches scarfing up every last berry. They stay a little more than a week stripping the branches just in time for the emerging birth of new blossoms to start the cycle all over again.

The Great Banquet

cedar waxwing feasting on red berries

St. Mary's in Sewanee, Tn. -April 6, 2008

Despite the fact my garden looks like a bomb exploded in it, signs of spring are emerging. Look around- the saucer magnolia, red bud, and Chickasaw plum trees are blooming. My daffodils are about to pop open in Pensacola, while up in the Alabama country the snow drops are in full bloom and the daffodils are in tight bud form. God is always pointing the way to new life and resurrection- just look around. How are you finding renewal this year?

“Daffodils” (1804)

I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

The Daffodil Field in Boligee, Al.

A view from below the snow drop- Boligee, Al.

field of snow drops in Alabama

I spent yesterday feeding my soul at the Gulf States Horticultural Expo in Mobile, Al.  My colleague, Ellis Bullock of Outerspaces Landscapes, and an old college friend, David Ellis, with Woerner’s said it is a “must see and do” , and they were so right. Especially after the two weeks of below freezing weather we had, which killed almost my entire back yard!! The Mobile Outlaw Convention Center was filled with over 430 horticultural companies in 700 booths displaying with green pride the best and newest in plants and landscape products. Sweet heavenly bliss!! Booth after booth of massive trees, shrubs, perennials, and ground covers warmed my heart and fed me with the hope that my backyard, and yours, will come back to life this spring!

Here are a few pictures of some new cultivars I saw at the expo that I’d like to try in my garden. How about you?

Harbor Belle Nandina

This dwarf nandina is going to be a big hit with its beautiful green and wine hued foliage, and vivid vermilion berries. Keeping a compact form Harbor Belle is maintenance free. Use as specimen or in mass, you cannot go wrong with the new Nandina domestica ‘Jaytee’. Developed by Ralph Rushing from Rushing Nursery in Semmes, Al., and named for his daughter.

I’m enamored with the Callistemon viminilis ‘Little John’, a dwarf bottle brush shrub. I’ve seen it planted in mass, and it is spectacular when blooming. It is drought tolerant and attracts hummingbirds. Plant in full sun for a big splash of bright red color this summer.

Little John dwarf bottlebrush

Looking for a shade loving, low growing shrub? Check out the spreading yew, Cephalotaxus harringtonii ‘Prostrata’ -

dwarf spreading yew

Crytomeria 'Black Dragon'

A couple of cryptomerias have my attention, too: Cryptomeria japonica ‘Black Dragon’ and ‘Globosa Nana’. Their texture and form are so interesting. The ‘Black Dragon’  grows to be about twenty feet tall while the ‘Globosa Nana’ is a dwarf with a mounding form that can grow to four to six feet.

Cryptomeria 'Globosa Nana'

Be on the look out for these plants and more at your local garden store.

Ice Flowers and Ribbons

My brother-in-law knows what a hibernating bear I become in the winter at our cabin in western Alabama. Even when it’s sunny, if the temperature is less than 50 degrees, I tend to stick by the fireside. I thought he was using extreme imaginative measures enticing me outdoors with claims of seeing “ice flowers”. I had never heard of them before, and it took some coaxing on his part to convince me to check out his assertions. I bundled up with my jacket, hat, and gloves before venturing out for a walk down the dirt road to see this phenomenon, called “ice flowers”. But here they are- check out the photos.

When I got home I did a google search, and found several articles about them. Some people call them ice flowers, others call them ice ribbons- I guess it depends on the formation. The first picture posted looks like an ice flower, but here’s one that looks more like a ribbon tied in a bow. See the second photo. You might call this one  an ice angel because it looks like it has wings.

D. Bruce Means wrote in February 2004 in “Natural History” about his findings :

“On close inspection, I saw that the “petals” of my ice flowers push their way through the vascular bundles of the dead stems: Water from the roots is drawn up the stems (either as part of the plant’s natural transportation system or through capillary action) and expands as it freezes, breaking the stem walls and creating a flow of ice. The leading edge of the ice freezes to the stem’s papery bark, and as the ice grows it is lifted upward by the attached bark, forming delicately curved, lacy ribbons…
Ice flowers “grown” by the same plants during later freezes in the same winter take on entirely different shapes, often becoming more compact, like true flowers. The bark of the woody stems has already been peeled upward by the first freeze, and so it is no longer available to shape the growth of new ice flowers.”

So there you have it! Winter does have something to offer besides a chance to roast chestnuts on an open fire. Button up your over coat and go ice flower hunting! It’s a joy to come upon these flowers because they only “bloom” in certain weather and temperature conditions. You may be privileged to see them one year, and then go several years with no sightings.

Let me hear about your ice flower sitings.