The garden is winding down for its long winter nap. But as I feed the soil with a top dressing of compost and leaf mold, I find tantalizing hints of spring. While the Clematis above might be confused or just optimistic, I suspect the other precocious plants are just doing what they always do.
I know Galanthus elwesii always starts sprouting in November.
If it's warm enough, the giant snowdrop can even begin blooming in December.
The herbaceous peony has some ruby nubs showing already. I discovered them when I cut down and discarded the old peony foliage to prevent disease.
Such a tough, long-lived plant certainly isn't confused by whatever weather we happen to get. I just dumped a bit of compost on it.
The Sanguinaria canadensis definitely isn't confused,
but I'm confused as to why it keeps working its way out of the soil? I keep burying it in leaf mold, which I did once again shortly after taking this shot.
These last two shots I took with my phone camera while I was working spreading the good stuff. I had already buried one and partially covered the other before I realized I should take a shot of them. The darker stuff is leaf mold, while the gray is the soil.
This is Dutchman's breeches, which has also beached itself on the surface. Some of the bulblets appear to be waking up. I took a few bulblets of it and replanted them in scattered places in the garden, then dumped more leaf mold on there.
This Trillium is next to the Dutchman's breeches. I sure hope it's not confused. There's only one of this species, as it was mislabeled as Trillium grandiflorum. It doesn't seem to be able to cross with the sole remaining T. grandiflorum. I'm looking forward to the ground freezing, so I can cover the wildflowers with shredded leaves and not worry about them until March.