As you can imagine, there are not a lot of plants flowering now in the garden, but with the mild weather we’ve been experiencing on the Cape, there are sure to be some early signs of spring if this weather persists.

The staff at Heritage Museums and Gardens is taking advantage of these weather conditions and working on what would normally be spring clean-up projects.  It’s a great time to be out in the garden taking care of leaf removal that may have not gotten done in the fall as well as cutting back of herbaceous perennials.

It’s also a great time of the year to be out admiring the berries on various deciduous as well as evergreen hollies (Ilex opaca).  By now, the crabapples have usually been stripped of their fruit by winter birds (turkeys especially love them).  In many years the Japanese Beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) still has its iridescent fruit.  Of course, winter is a great time to appreciate the beautiful bark and dormant buds on plants such as Korean Stewartia (Stewartia koreana), Japanese Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia),  and Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko Blue’). Points of interest around the grounds include the beautiful pale greenish-white dormant buds on a rhododendron  (Rhododendron degronianum ssp. Yakushimanum ‘Mist Maiden’) near the Cafe as well as the beautiful lichen-covered bark of another nearby rhododendron (Rhododendron ‘Honey Dew’).