I’m Late for a Blooming Date

Flashback to Winter 2010

I’m hanging my head in shame because I promised to put up Corylopsis pauciflora for the 15th of the month, Bloggers’ Bloom Day. I blame the end of the quarter and finals week at school for not following through with my promise.

Are you tired of the same old excuses? Some don’t sound right anymore: “my dog ate my computer” would seem the natural evolution of the old standby excuse, but not too feasible. Of course, I’m sure someone’s dog, somewhere in the world, ate a computer and wound up with lousy indigestion and lead poisoning, but that seems highly unlikely or a sporadic event.

Here are my late arrivals that I photographed on that day. Next month, I will be on time, or my excuses will be far more creative. Ah, but you don’t care about my reasons; you want the plants!

Corylopsis pauciflora (pronounced: kor-ah-LOP-sis pa-sih-FLOOR-ah) is a sweet little shrub that loads its branches up late winter with cheery, light yellow blossoms. Although it’s called winter hazel, unlike its cousins, the witch hazels and the winter sweets, there is no scent. This shrub will do well in a small space, growing up to about five feet tall. You can’t say that about forsythia, which needs a lot of room to look its finest, making its best fountain impression.