It’s already halfway to spring [from the solstice]!

Since we last posted, the Garden has been blanketed in & released from snow; the earliest in-ground bloomers have popped up & sprung to action; tropicals have been blooming in the greenhouse and studio; and CEI’s been awarded a Chesapeake Bay Trust Outreach & Restoration grant that will enable us to offer more opportunities to engage with and learn about the property grounds beyond the garden, as we work to improve stormwater management on the site.

Above, clockwise from top left: frozen pond; critter footprints (do you know whose?) in the woods; the barn; the patio in the wondrous white.

Below, clockwise from top left, some garden knockouts in winter finery: Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) requires no dressing up!; Echinacea (Echinacea spp.) seedheads bedecked with snow; hardy yet dainty Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) in bloom; breathtaking Butcher’s Broom (Ruscus aculeatus).

Below, spring’s earliest harbingers (all introduced species) besides the Giant Butterbur (Petasites japonicus) that’s almost certainly at least budding too, clockwise from top: Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis); Hellebore (Helleborus spp.); Daffodil (Narcissus spp.); and Winter Aconite (Eranthus hyemalis)

In recent weeks, the greenhouse is filled with colorful blooms, and fragrance from the oh-so-wistfully-named Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Brunfelsia australis):

In the studio, the lemon tree’s been blooming for months, so profusely that its heady scent greeted one just heading downstairs.  Below, left to right, top to bottom: lemon blooms in December; baby lemons setting in January; inside the greenhouse in January; Boldo Brasiliero, or Toilet Paper Plant (Coleus barbatus) blooming in January

We’d love to share the garden and grounds with you this month as Spring draws ever nearer.  Join us for Herbal Medicine-Making or a Walk & Work!

All pictures the creative works of garden director Annie-Sophie