Brookside in Winter

It was a very cold morning when I made the trek to Brookside Gardens last week. I made a very short hike. The first destination was the place where Skunk Cabbage grows – the boardwalk between the gardens and the nature center. The wet area around the Bald Cypress trees is think with it…but not yet. The needles of the cypress cover the ground with the cypress knees breaking the monotony. There are not skunk cabbage sprouts yet.

I headed up to the small rooms of gardens and a gazebo and made some photographs of benches and stone walkways. I didn’t pause to sit on a sunny bench.

The plant I was very pleased to find in bloom was Witch Hazel. I found one in a location I had not noticed before and two others that I had seen in previous winters. They are a welcome burst of color in winter. The petals look like narrow ribbons sometimes curled tight.

And with that…I headed into the conservator where it was warm!