I am enjoying a lovely, clear, cold day- after having enjoyed the stunning lunar eclipse last night- and prior to a storm out of the south that will bring over 6" of snow to us tomorrow. I noticed yesterday that the buds on the Cornelian Cherry were fat and expectant and took the opportunity to photograph them and a few other optimists in my landscape. (I have written about my philosophy on gardens on my website and will not repeat that here.)
The Cornelain Cherry (Cornus mas) is actually a relative of our native Dogwood, but instead of the large, showy white blossoms of late spring, the Cornelian Cherry has small, lime-green fragrant blossoms very early in the spring. The fruit is like a small, hard dry, somewhat sweet, cherry- beloved by birds but not invasive or aggressive. The sight of those chubby nubs of growth in late winter always cheers me.
Then I noticed the velvety catkins of the Red-leaved Hazelnut and the tiny lanterns of the Andromeda, too. I love this time of the year- you can focus on the details without being overwhelmed by the welter of sights and scents vying for your attention. But then I notice that I need to attend to some pruning and some preparatory tearing down of a fence that has come to the end of its usefullness. Indeed the fence is no longer a fence, it is just a jumble of sticks loosely nailed together- entropy rears its ugly head and then it sinks to the ground again.
But for today, I have the jolly expectation of Cornelian Cherry.
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