Edgeworthia is attracting the attention of pollinators with bright colors and fragrance.
It is a welcome sign that spring will arrive despite the present temperatures and threat of snow.
No worries. These fuzzy blooms can take the cold and ice.
I was glad to be home to enjoy this lovely shrub.
FLOWER
The Edgeworthia bush has perfumed the yard for weeks. Its dangling blooms are now poofy like pompoms.
This paperbush has been a joy and goes great with all the happy daffodils.
FLOW
Sometimes I think nothing is going on around here
and then I look and realize I have been missing things.
My expensive stick ( Edgeworthia / Chinese Paper Bush) that turned into a lovely shrub over the summer has become a decorated stick.
Its leaves have dropped to reveal silky white buds hanging down like holiday baubles.
These glow in the morning sunshine.
Things happen in the garden year-round in the south.
You just have to pay close attention to notice.
Flower
Back in March I posted about a stick I purchased from a local nursery.
https://floweralley.org/2019/03/22/the-expensive-stick/
Mr. Flower saw it as an expensive stick, but I saw more.
I saw lush green leaves covered with dew drops.
I saw speckled bark the color of cinnamon.
I saw white tight buds that will turn into yellow chandeliers in winter.
My visions have come to fruition.
This is what brings me joy.
My Edgeworthia / Chinese Paper Bush a treasure.
Flower
If you are reading this blog, you all ready know that I am obsessed with plants.
Not the big-box garden center, common, cheap variety; but the expensive search-the-world-over kind.
My obsession sometimes leads to sinning, as in coveting someone else’s plants.
I am ashamed to admit this is true. Breaking a commandment over a plant.
(Yes, Gail K. I coveted your Edgeworthia.)
I have always wanted a paperbush shrub, but feared one would not survive in zone 7.
When I saw one blooming in a neighbor’s yard I almost ran off the road.
Thoughts of coming back late at night with a shovel crossed my mind.
Do they have a dog? Would the chickens squeal on me?
So I was thankful to find an Edgeworthia chrysantha at one of my go-to places for the strange and obscure.
It was dormant. It looked like a stick. There was no tag. I had to buy it on faith. Lots of faith.
Mr. Flower looked at the pot with the stick in it and the expensive price tag with a puzzled look.
“It’s on my LIST.” I said. “Gail has one…”
There is no arguing with a woman obsessed.
My new baby is sprouting leaves.
I hope these don’t end up being expensive snacks for our herd of deer.
But that’s another story. (Stay tuned)
P.S. Here is a picture of the bunnies. (Gail doesn’t have bunnies.)
FLOWER
floweralley 