Vernal: Stored Sunlight In high school biology I learned how plants store light as energy. There were lots of facts, plenty of information to file for later retrieval. However, I was never as interested in botany then as I am now in the poetry of the process.
All must be inferred from outside appearances while the storing occurs. But, at some point, what is being hinted at from within the plant will no longer be able to hold back, bursting forth from botany to poetry. Einstein’s fascination with light led to E=Mc2. Perhaps he missed the point when he missed the poetry in favor of science.
The gloom of mid-western winters hones anticipation to a fine edge in gardeners, so warmest feelings come during the coldest months. With winter and earliest of spring, vernals of the plant world, my witch-hazels radiate colors collected from previous seasons.
In my garden they spent spring and summer capturing and storing color. Each mid-December through April I can count on breaks brought about by mid-winter displays. I can see the sunshine released along their limbs. Parchment-brown corrugated leaves remain from fall forming protective canopies dusted with snow. Spiders of twisted petals give back warmth and fragrance. Shifting temperatures bring opening and closing flowers. Cold days, the petals hug themselves saving the warmth. Temperatures reach above freezing and petals gladly give up and share the bright clear yellow, orange and red of sunsets from summer.
Fragrance reminds me of Auntie Maude when she removed her makeup in latest evening. An astringent edge is mixed with sweet soap scents perfectly matching her personality. Beginning mid-December I find my soul soothed days of sunshine and memories of Maude all stored in witch-hazel blooms.
To keep this small tree company with complementary blooms I am quite fond of daffodils to complete the bloom cycle. Hellebores in hybrids and species are great companions providing year round foliage and blooms through full bloom cycle of the tree.
Other perennials I am fond of are Primula vulgaris cultivars, along with primula veris and elatior. Primula have bloom colors matching the tree in giving back colors of a previous season’s sunsets. While snowdrops are quiet bloomers in white and green, the charm of the tiny nodding bells make it an easy choice blending well with almost any other early blooming plant.