A Bewitching Bloom Day

Tuesday's bout of cold and snow has taken the forest pretty close to completely naked. My neighbor's birch tree, as always, is the last tree in the forest to do fall.

The Barren Time is here. That is when the witches come out.

The native Witch Hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, blooms late October and well into November. Cold does not bother it in the least. Even a freakish low of 12 degrees so early in the season left it unfazed.

I can pretty well rely on them to have something in bloom in the garden for November's Bloom Day. But Bloom Day is a world wide event so you can travel off the mountain to see more.

Two years in a row they are having an exceptional showing. Sometimes the bloom can be rather sparse.

I found a post bloom Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa, putting out its seeds while admiring the witches on a still cold afternoon.

Now I wait, for a crushing snow, for the mood to strike, for the time and weathers to present an opportune moment. The Under Garden wants to come out to play. It's in there just waiting to be revealed.

I may get low on flowers in the Barren Time, but I planted a garden that can pull me outside every day of the year.