Cheer Up!

 Today's Flora Wonder Blog is a re-run from 10 years ago.

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In Scandinavia winter is considered to begin on October 14 and ends on the last day of February. I spent one Christmas in hot Lima, Peru, walking the streets and sweating, occasionally stopping at cafes to imbibe Inca Cola. For plant people in the Northern Hemisphere "winter" has a different definition than any scientific explanation. For us, winter is the time when our plants can be damaged or die. In Oregon that is usually from November 15 to the end of February, but disasters can occur at any time of course.

So here we are…at the winter solstice, which is as low as one can get. It's dark when I go to work, and dark when I come home. We had a little snow earlier, but now it is wind and rain. The usual puddles will stay filled for months, and bark in my landscape floats down the hill. Woe, woe is me.

Today I will offer you a little pep-up blog. I saw a lot of wonderful plants in 2012, and we'll celebrate their flowers, the prettiest part. The word "flower" is from Middle English flour, that from Anglo-French flur or flaur, and that from Latin flor. Flora was the Roman goddess of plants.

Most photographs were taken at Flora Wonder, but I also visited other gardens in Oregon, Washington and California. I won't describe these flowers, because frankly I don't know much about peonies, roses and proteas. But anyway, the flowers can speak for themselves.

Aloe arborescens

Banksia coccinea

Bletilla striata 'Alba'

Clematis 'Serafina'

Clematis 'Sport of Belle Nantaise'

Cornus kousa 'Heart Throb'

Cornus kousa 'Heart Throb'

Cyclamen coum 'Something Magic'

Daphne burkwoodii 'Brigg's Moonlight'

Fritillaria pudica

Grevillea 'Moonlight'

Grevillea alpina

Helianthus annuus

Helleborus 'Peppermint Ice Strain'

Iris douglasiana

Kniphofia thompsonii 'Triploid Form'

Lagerstroemia 'Pink Velour'

Lamium orvala

Leptospermum Scoparium 'Kiwi'

Leucadendron 'Safari Sunshine'

Leucadendron coniferum

Leucadendron salignum 'Winter Red'

Leucospermum 'Veld Fire'

Leucospermum cordifolium

Lilium 'Loreto'

Lilium 'White Henryi'

Lomatium columbianum

Lupinus 'New Generation'

Magnolia 'Golden Gala'

Magnolia 'Red Baron'

Magnolia 'Vulcan'

Melianthus major

Nepenthes species

Nepenthes species

Paeonia 'Red Charm'

Paeonia lutea

Pieris japonica 'Shojo'

Pleione 'Versailles'

Protea neriifolia

Regelia ciliata

Rhododendron 'Alexis'

Rhododendron daphnoides

Rhododendron macrosepalum 'Linearifolium'

Rhododendron orbiculare 'Edinburgh'

Rhododendron orbiculare 'Edinburgh'

Rhododendron 'Taurus'

Ribes sanguineum 'Brocklebankii'

Rosa 'Lemon Chiffon'

Rosa moyesii 'Regalia'

Sarracenia species

Sarracenia species

Sedum kamtschaticum 'Weihenstephaner Gold'

Sinocalycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine'

Stachyurus chinensis 'Magpie'

Tulipa bakeri 'Lilac Wonder'

Tulipa species

Watsonia species

Well, there you are. I know that I feel better. I probably won't go to bonfires or attend parties this winter, as long as I have memories of this past year's floral extravaganza. And the best part: the world did not end today.