Saturday, October 08, 2005
The leaves of winter
I've always been jealous of people who garden in climates warmer than ours, who have some degree of year-round continuity in their garden, rather than falling into the winter abyss, as we do. However, if you look close and hard, we also have little hints of a revolving botanical door, especially with the hibernal (winter) leaves of some of the wildflowers. One of my first blog entries last February was about the hibernal leaves of Aplectrum hyemale, the Adam and Eve orchid, shown above just emerging this October, and persisting through the winter until mid-summer, when it goes dormant. The crane fly orchid (Tipularia) also is sending up its leaves, which appear first almost coal black, then fade to deep green with deep red backs; very striking against the somber fall earth.
// posted by IBOY @ 8:04 PM 
