Magnolia stellata, commonly called star magnolia, is a lovely multi-stemmed tree with white to pink flushed flowers. If you get up close to the tree when it is in bloom you will notice a delicate perfume coming from the so called - star shaped flowers. I always wondered about this star shaped description as the magnolia flowers seem too floppy to be considered a star. They look more like pom poms to me but star sounds more elegant so maybe that is why it is often used.

The fun, family festival celebrating Vancouver's cherry blossoms is not in full force this year as the organisers have gone over to Japan to view their beautiful blossoms and bring back new inspiration for next year's event. The website is still up and running and I see that they are training for Cherry Scouts on Mar 2nd at Vandusen.

From the website www.vcbf.ca

Now is the time when you should cut down your ornamental grasses. You have wisely left them to stand all winter to enjoy  their movement in the wind and have admired the frost crystals that those cold mornings produced on the fine stalks. The dead stalks look out of place now compared to all the fresh green growth in the garden and it is time to clear those stalks away to allow the new grass stems to grow up freely.

I love the modest, nodding flower heads of some Euphorbia varieties before they open to reveal their lime green beauty. The flowers seem so hesitant to display themselves, as if they are embarassed to reveal their true colour to the world.

It is at this time of year that the slow starter creates a bigger garden clean-up job the longer they wait to get around to it . The abundant growth that plants put on during wet, warming and lengthening days is phenomenal. You turn your back and chaos has taken hold before you can get started creating what you want.

Forcing sounds like a term too aggresive for us gardeners so you can call it coaxing spring flowers if that makes you feel better. Forcing is the proper term for manipulating the conditions of a plant to get it to flower early, usually by bringing it inside. I have done this with my Iris reticulata bulbs and some plum branches.

This morning is the perfect morning to be thinking about Rain Gardens and why they are so important to this city. What is a rain garden? Does my flattened muddy patch get included in this category?

I love Hellebores! I love the toothy, dark green leaves and for me the gorgeous flowers are just a bonus in winter when we need beauty the most. I must admit I am a fan of the common and variable coloured Helleborus x hybridus but if you get the collectors urge to have them all there are many spectacular varieties to fall in love with.

The winter months really tell the truth about how and usually when we planted our gardens. Most of us get intoxicated with the spring and venture to the garden centre to fill up on colour and barely think twice about what foundation of structural planting we have. Some gardens have very few evergreen shrubs or no deciduous trees that exhibit a good winter form. These plants form the bones of the garden that bring us through the winter and provide the support to whatever flowers develop through the season.