Helen Chesnut, Times Colonist

A little over a week ago I was walking along a brick pathway between some municipal flower beds in Qualicum Beach when I noticed two women ahead of me bent over one of the beds. As I approached, they asked whether I knew the name of the little yellow flowers that carpeted the ground beneath a small tree.

The flowers were winter aconites (Eranthis) — shiny, buttercup-like blooms that rest close to the earth, each one nestled over a little ruff of leaves. They traditionally bloom with the snowdrops early in the year. The tubers are locally available for early autumn planting.

We did not stop to count the blossoms, as flower lovers will start to do on Monday when the week of the Victoria Flower Count begins, but those little blooms were well appreciated and admired that day in an encounter that spoke eloquently of the delight that flower fans take in the blooms of late winter. Who does not stop to revel in the loveliness of flowering plum and cherry trees filled with blossom, the lavish camellias, the winter heathers, the sheets of crocuses and clumps of dwarf iris?

Beside the driveway, near the front of my house, a hugely spreading Springwood Pink heather taken from my father’s garden over two decades ago never fails to clothe itself in colour at this time of the year. Nearby, beside the front lawn, a Chinese witch hazel’s spidery yellow flowers linger in partnership with a Pink Dawn viburnum’s rosy bloom clusters. Next to the carport, a winter daphne (Daphne odora) is set to open its blossom clusters and release one of nature’s most exquisite floral perfumes.

Working around the centre of the back garden is to be enveloped in the fragrance of sweet box (Sarcococca), a shiny-leaved evergreen shrub with small, feathery white flowers arranged rather inconspicuously along the stems. Winter irises (Iris unguicularis) bloom alongside a nearby pathway that is becoming covered in crocuses slowly spreading from their planting sites. Patches of sweet violets are dotted with tiny, highly scented flowers under a plum tree. This brief pre-spring period is an enchanting part of the gardening year.

COUNT YOURSELF IN

Flower fans, send us your blooms!

During the Feb. 26 through March 3 Victoria Flower Count (www.tourismvictoria.com/flowercount/) the Times Colonist is inviting readers to send in photographs of favourite late-winter flowers, along with a brief comment on the special charm or attraction they have for you.

Perhaps there is a particular memory attached to a flower that blooms in your garden at this time of year.

Here is a chance to share your passion for the flowers that break the spell of winter.

Here is how to submit your flowers.

E-mail to features@tc.canwest.com. Specify Flower Count as the subject. Send by mail to Flowers, Features Department, Times Colonist, 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, B.C., V8T 4M2. The deadline is March 3.

Some of the submissions will be published in the Times Colonist, and at timescolonist.com

I am looking forward to a celebration of the flowers you love.

GARDEN EVENTS

The roses of winter. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific at Glendale Gardens, 505 Quayle R. in Saanich, is presenting Hellebore Sunday this Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. Five of Victoria’s best known hybridizers, including Joe Harvey and Carmen Varcoe, will be on hand in the greenhouse with their expertise and some of their unique hellebores for sale. There will be a talk and demonstration of growing techniques, with guided tours of the Doris Page Winter Garden available before and after the presentation. The event is free for HCP members. For others the cost is the price of admission — $7.50 for adults, $5.25 for seniors and students. www.hcp.bc.ca.

SOUL meeting. The Society for Organic Urban Land Care is holding a public outreach meeting on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at Camosun College, Interurban Campus, Portable A, Room 100 in Victoria. SOUL’s mission is to support communities in their transition to organic landscaping practices. At this meeting guest speaker Erik Bjornsen will address the topic Exploring Ponds and Water Features. At 4 p.m., Heide Hermary will deliver a science update on what is new in the world of organics. At 4:15, Michael Cowan will suggest seasonal organic garden tasks. SOUL members are admitted free to the event. For non-members, a donation of $5, which can be applied to the membership fee of $30 per year, is requested. www.organiclandcare.org.

Container garden club. The newly formed Container-Garden Club will meet this Monday at 7:30 p.m. in St. Michaels and All Angels Church Hall, 4733 West Saanich Rd. in Victoria. Guest speaker will be Rex Murfitt, author of Creating and Planting Alpine Gardens and co-author of Creating and Planting Garden Troughs. This new garden club will focus on the design, planting, building and maintaining of container gardens. Meetings will be held on the fourth Monday of each month except December. Dues are $10 or $15 for a family.

Learn how to turn your garbage into gardening gold with this free workshop on making compost from your kitchen and yard waste.

Helen Chesnut writes Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in Life.

source : www.canada.com by Helen Chesnut, Times Colonist