A View From My Garden

December 21, 2005

I suppose it is almost a certainty that we will have a white Christmas. My garden is grateful for snow and steady cold as we have been having, and so am I.. The most difficult thing about our valley is its winters of constant freezing and thawing. A long fall, a deep mulch of leaves, snow and then steady cold is the preference of most all hardy perennials and young trees. And so I find I have many things to celebrate this Christmas.

If it is true that plants enjoy music, then I hope the indoor jungle is as grateful as I am for the steady diet of good Christmas music being served us by our local radio station. Teaks for that, and especially for playing The Messiah recordings each morning. I am sure the Epidendrum orchid in the dining room appreciates it, for it is putting out three stalks of blooms this year instead of one or two. I wonder at this orchid, for it faithfully blooms each Christmas, the darkest part of the northern year, and being an Epidendrum, the blooms last nearly into March, when it is time to seriously start on the early planting! What could be a better Christmas present than that?

Winter solstice, the first day of winter (though this year perhaps a trifle redundant) is the shortest day of the year in the north. It is December 21st this year, and although the perception of lengthening days following is minuscule and the darkness seems to linger on, the days actually are lengthening. January 21st is the magical day when the sunrise actually turns its back on the sunset, dawning away toward spring. This period of darkness in our north is balanced, of course, by the first day of summer in the southern hemisphere.

Orchids are found all over the world, in just about every climate and condition, but those we treasure most in our homes are the large and conspicuous orchids from the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The easiest to grow and bloom are from the higher mountains in that rain-forested, 12-hour day region of the Equator. Orchids, like most plants, are extremely adaptable. Has anyone seen the local orchid growing along our river and the streams that feed it? It is Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes romanzaoffiana), and is very shy and rare, even here in the Northern Rockies which are its home. I have seen it once and loved its delicate pale-skinned beauty; little tubes edged with ruffles, spiraling up its stalk.

I am told there are 16 or more varieties of orchid in Glacier National Park, and I believe there is an annual field trip to see how many can be found. All are precious, and something to check into in spring and summer.

My intermediate-house orchids are fun to grow and care for once one understands their needs, but not so easy to bring to bloom. I have a Cattleya (of corsage fame) that has grown well for about 6 years and never bloomed. I am grateful this Christmas for the vagrant Epidendrum, whose specific name I do not know, and its dependable bloom in winter. A reminder that there is always new life just around the corner, no matter how dark the day.

Merry Christmas to All, and may your blessings be many.