Sweet Alabama

Even a few climate zones change the landscape completely. The gardener finds himself surrounded by a different world of flowers unknown and enduring greenery. Despite the temporary chill the flora of Alabama maintained its subtropical resilience, attuned to the fact that temperatures close to freezing are fleeting, but zone 9 is forever.

I was charmed by perpetual azaleas and camellias that ado
sturdy bushes with the enthusiastic bloom of landscaping roses. Unseen gardenias made their presence known by the veil of perfume that surrounds them. Foliage is deep green and shiny, not with the unabashed splurging of tropical plants, but with a high vitality fed by powerful sunshine and generous rainfall.

The higher angle of the sun begets artful sunsets that cast shadows over the camellia bushes and tint the white flowers with peach, magenta and rose. There were violets everywhere, violets and camellias mirroring a romantic imagery of centuries past.

Moss oaks create wide archways over the streets and make you feel as if you're driving through a living creature, huge, soft and accommodating, a creature whose benevolent patience makes you feel protected and at ease. Every branch, every stick is padded with mossy fuzz, an abundant plush that drapes the tree limbs overhead with cushy comfort.

It's warm in Alabama, even at the end of December when winter storms covered the entire North with snow. Heavy downpours drenched the bay on Christmas evening and then settled into a steady summer rain whose soothing sound seeped through the open windows and transported me to another season and another time.