'Grand Primo'

As I said, daffodils have begun blooming here. I saw some in the woods yesterday and went back early this morning to take photos. I joined a historic daffodil listserv and asked them what cultivars these may be, but my suspicions are 'Grand Primo' and perhaps the old-fashioned 'King Alfred'. I'll post later if the listserv says otherwise.

Narcissus 'Grand Primo' (possibly)

Narcissus 'Grand Primo' (possibly)

Narcissus 'Grand Primo' (possibly)

Narcissus 'King Alfred' (possibly)

Update: on the listserv so far they're saying the multiflowered one is 'Grand Monarque', a 200-year-old Dutch cultivar. I'm happy with that.

Daphne

Garden update:

While the paperwhites 'Nir' and 'Wintersun' provided a much-appreciated bloom just after Christmas, as soon as it dipped down to 19 degrees, the flowers went to mush and fell to the ground. The foliage is still alive and growing well. I suspect that, even though paperwhites are hardy here, the fact that the flowers aren't entirely frost-proof limits their use.

A number of weeks later, and other daffodils are beginning to bloom. I hope to post more photos soon.

In the meantime, fragrant winter daphne is blooming here. There are a number of species of Daphne, but the only one suited to Alabama's climate, that I know of, is Daphne odora. The most common one found here is the cultivar 'Aureomarginata' which has leaves with golden margins and is hardier than the species.

By the way, you can easily tell that a cultivar is an old one if it has a Latin name, such as aureomarginata. Latin names are no longer allowed for cultivars as of January 1, 1959.

While we are on the subject of nomenclature, "cultivar" is a word short for "cultivated variety", distinct from "variety" (Latin, varietas, abbreviated var.), which technically should be used only with naturally-occurring varieties. 

Cultivars are always capitalized, in single quotation marks, and not italicized.

Example:

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata'

Varieties are never capitalized, always italicized, never in quotation marks, and most often follow "var."

Example:

Narcissus jonquilla var. henriquesii

Anyway, this is a photo I took of winter daphne:

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata'

January Photos

My dad's dog Fancy chewing a piece of wood

His other dog Buddy

Winterberries up-close

Winterberries in b&w. These are actually orange winterberries but you can't tell.

On Duties

Reading Cicero's work, On Duties, I feel they are absolutely wrong who say that we have become a pagan society. What an insult to Cicero. We are not pagans; we are barbarians.

Particularly surprising was Cicero's section on duties we owe to those who have wronged us, or enemy nations, or this section about foreigners:

"Others again who say that regard should be had for the rights of fellow-citizens, but not of foreigners, would destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind; and, when this is annihilated, kindness, generosity, goodness, and justice must utterly perish; and those who work all this destruction must be considered as wickedly rebelling against the immortal gods."

Walking Around

I was out walking around with my camera this week.

Gelatinous forest fungi

Alabama croton, endangered species

Winter berries

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), one of the deciduous hollies.

Diesel tanks

Samford Hall

Daffodil Journal 2017: 'Wintersun' vs. 'Nir'

I got some more photos of 'Wintersun' and 'Nir' for comparison's sake.

Narcissus 'Nir' on left and 'Wintersun' on right.

And some more of 'Wintersun' for beauty's sake (if you can't tell, I'm smitten with this one).

Views of Tallassee

Tallassee, as I have come to know on my lunch breaks, is a peculiar place, whether it be the Confederate flags that line the streets each May, or the prisoners in bright jumpsuits washing police cars and cracking jokes with officers at the police station in the middle of town. Yesterday, I became not only a drive-by observer, but a walking observer as well. Here are some photos.

In the historic district most of the buildings were abandoned, some hollowed out.

Downtown

Fort Talisi, atop a bluff on the Tallapoosa River.

A lot of Confederate history and pride here.

One of the Civil War era buildings along the river, maybe the Confederate armory.

Tallapoosa River, one of Alabama's four big rivers. It combines with the Coosa River near Montgomery to become the Alabama River which flows toward Mobile Bay.

Along the other side of the river, another Civil War era building that burned down this past spring.

Thurlow Dam, a hydroelectric dam owned by Alabama Power Company

The power generating plant

I like this building.

East Tallassee on the other side of the river.

Daffodil Journal 2017: 'Wintersun'

Last week I wrote about the first Narcissus of the season, the paperwhite 'Nir'. The first flowers of 'Nir' opened December 26. Next up is another winter-blooming Tazetta daffodil, 'Wintersun' from Brent and Becky's Bulbs. The first blooms opened December 30.

Narcissus 'Wintersun' 8 W-Y

While 'Wintersun' was opening, we received record-breaking rain. About half of the stems of 'Nir' flopped over to the ground, while stems of 'Wintersun' endured it with ease. In comparison to 'Nir', 'Wintersun' has smaller, more durable flowers (a little more than half the size), which undoubtedly contributed to their faring the rain better. I can't blame 'Nir' for flopping over in the rain, since it was bred to grow indoors.

They both have a more or less similar paperwhite fragrance. 'Nir''s petals and cups are a pristine, iridescent white, while 'Wintersun' has more offwhite/greenish petals and yellow cups.

'Wintersun'

'Wintersun' has a very upright habit, with foliage spread like an inverted cone, and slightly taller than 'Nir', whose foliage tends to flop dog-ear and lie flatter. 'Wintersun' has glossier, narrow, green-yellow foliage, while 'Nir' has broader leaves of a more glaucous blue color.

'Wintersun', clump view.

In all, 'Wintersun' is a lovely daffodil, perhaps better for rainy outdoor situations than other paperwhites, and with yellow cups that serve as a sunny sneak preview of spring in mid-winter.

St. Vincent de Paul Parish

Yesterday in my lunch hour I stopped by St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Tallassee, Alabama. It was built with the help of one Catholic convert member of an influential Alabama family, the Blounts, who converted after hearing then-Monsignor Fulton Sheen preaching on the radio. Sheen was present at the dedication of the church, as I wrote about on my blog sometime before.

Even though the church is small and simple, there is something about it that draws me and makes me feel that I am at a sacred, significant space. There are much larger and more expensive churches in the area that have less an effect. I think it's the prettiest Catholic church in the Auburn area. 

I had only my telephoto lens with me so I couldn't get far enough away to capture the whole building.

I love seeing Italian cypresses in Alabama. Much better than the Leyland cypress.

St. Vincent de Paul. This parish is now staffed with a diocesan priest, but was once a Vincentian mission parish like many churches in the area.

Door detail.

Monochrome treatment.

My uncle's horses back at the shop.

For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth; and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (Hebrews 12:6)

I saw the film Manchester by the Sea a few weeks ago. It's not the kind of film one likes or dislikes. In fact, I think that, besides the subtle humor, most people would not "enjoy" this film. It's not a film to bring joy so much as to wrestle with: it immerses you into the world of an ordinary man you might know, and shows you why he is the way he is, and what he wrestles with day by day, and how he handles a tragic situation thrown at him in the midst of this. In the end, I gained empathy for a man who can't fix the evil he has done or move on, but only do the best with what he has to move forward in his shattered state. 

Along a related vein, I'm looking forward to seeing Martin Scorsese's Silence soon.