It's 3 for Thursday, the any three things meme started by Cindy of From My Corner of Katy. This week, I'm looking back at New Year's Eve 2010, when the temperature soared to over 50F/10C and it rained, making all the beautiful, insulating snow disappear. I will admit that it was nice going outside with only a sweat jacket on instead of a winter coat, but I worry about the garden now that the cold has returned, but the snow has not.
Here are just a few of the plants I've not seen for several weeks. Above is the blackened foliage of Baptisia against the backdrop of little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium.
My favorite evergreen native plants are the Hepaticas.
This is the more robust sharp-leaved hepatica, Hepatica nobilis var. acuta, formerly known as Hepatica acutiloba for the pointed leaves. This particular plant retains its green color, while the other sharp-leaved hepaticas in the garden turn a dark wine. I'd love to know why this plant is aberrant. It's the healthiest and most robust of them all and was either a division or a seedling of one of the other plants.
The following image has been subject to photo manipulation.
I took the top branch of the red-twigged dogwood and moved it lower in the photo, then cropped it, to yield a better composition. These dogwoods aren't in the best place to show off their glowing red branches, but I can't figure out anyplace better for them, so they will remain overshadowed by the Thujas. They really would be better by themselves in full sun, where the branches can contrast with snow.