Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ Has White to Light Green Flowers

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon,’ a hybrid hellebore (Helleborus niger x H. sternii) by German breeder Joseph Heuger, has white to light green flowers.

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878427, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,639; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon,’ a hellebore hybrid (Helleborus niger x Helleborus sternii) by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has white to light green flowers and dark green leaves.

On June 28, 2004, Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, for a patent for Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger’s application. On March 8, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,639 to Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon.’

Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ has its origins in a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor in January 1999. A cross-pollination of an unnamed, unpatented female Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) seedling with an unnamed, unpatented male Helleborus x sternii seedling took place in a controlled environment at Heuger’s family nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany.

One of the parent seedlings, the male, is itself a hybrid. Helleborus x sternii, which honors British botanist and horticulturist Sir Frederick Claude Stern (April 18, 1884-July 10, 1967), is a cross of Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius) and blue-grey hellebore (Helleborus lividus).

Heuger discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ from among the cross-pollinated parents’ offspring. Heuger noted the new cultivar’s distinctive traits of compact, mounded plant habit; attractively colored flowers and foliage; long blooming period. Propagation by divisions, begun in March 2001, demonstrated the retention and true reproduction of distinctive traits over successive generations.

Heuger’s patent application describes plants, at about 6 months of age, that were grown indoors in Glandorf during winter in 15-centimeter (5.9-inch) containers. Temperatures during production registered 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F) during the night.

Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ has a temperature tolerance range of minus 10 to 36 degrees C (14 to 96.8 degrees F).

The growth habit for Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ is moderately vigorous. Its compact, mounded plant habit has basal leaves and single flowers. Plant height measures about 14 centimeters (5.51 inches). Spread, or width, measures about 30 centimeters (11.81 inches).

Basal foliage comprises palmately compound leaves. Three to five leaflets radiate from the leaf’s attachment point at the distal end of the petiole, or leaf stalk.

Leaflet lengths range from about 5 to 10 centimeters (1.96 to 3.93 inches). Widths range from about 2.5 to 4 centimeters (0.98 to 1.57 inches).

Lanceolate, or lance-shaped, leaflets have serrated margins. Upper and lower surfaces have a glabrous texture, with hairless smoothness.

Fully expanded leaflets display dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart color 147A) upper surfaces. Veins are brown green (RHS 146B).

Lower surfaces of fully expanded leaflets are brown green (RHS 147B). Veins are brown purple (RHS 183A).

‘HGC Silvermoon’ has a lengthy blooming period. Intermittent flowering occurs from December to February in Glandorf. A freely flowering habit yields about 10 developed flowers per plant over the blooming period. On the plant, flowers last about 10 days.

Single rounded flowers, facing outward and upright, are borne in a single arrangement atop upright peduncles, or floral stems. Peduncles measure about 5 to 7 centimeters (1.96 to 2.75 inches) in length. Diameters range from about 3 to 5 millimeters (0.11 to 0.19 inches).

Peduncles, which have an upright orientation, are strong. Their glabrous texture is hairlessly smooth. Their color is light green (RHS 145A). A slight overlay of brown purple (RHS 187A) imbues peduncles with a burgundy cast.

Flower buds, which are ovoid, or egg-shaped, measure about 1.2 centimeters (0.47 inches) in height. Bud diameter is about 7 millimeters (0.27 inches). Bud color is light green (RHS 145D).

Flowers typically have five sepals, arranged in a single whorl. Petals, which are tiny, form inconspicuous nectaries.

Sepal length is about 3.5 centimeters (1.37 inches). Width measures about 3 centimeters (1.18 inches).

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have rounded apices, or tips. Entire margins are smooth and untoothed. The glabrous texture of upper and lower surfaces is satiny and hairlessly smooth.

The upper surfaces of fully expanded sepals are light green (RHS 149D). With development, coloring approaches light green (RHS 145B to 145C).

The lower surfaces of fully expanded sepals are light green (RHS 149D), with a slight overlay of brown purple (RHS 187A).

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ is the showiness, especially during its lengthy winter blooming period, of the Heuger hellebore’s white to light green flowers, atop their burgundy-effect stems, in fresh cut arrangements and in container or in-ground garden spaces.

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878427, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,639; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878427, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,639; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP15639; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15639.pdf)

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878427, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,639; Date of Patent March 8, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP15639; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15639.pdf)

For further information:

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide. Portland OR: Timber Press, 2006.

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. “Not Your Mother’s Hellebores: A New Look at Species and Hybrids (Part 2).” Pacific Horticulture magazine. January 2008.
Available @ http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/not-your-mothers-hellebores-part-2/

“Hellebore (Helleborus Gold Collection® Silvermoon).” The National Gardening Association > Plants Database > Hellebores.
Available @ http://garden.org/plants/view/185831/Hellebore-Helleborus-Gold-Collection-Silvermoon/

“Helleborus ericsmithii ‘HGC Silvermoon’ PP15639.” Perennial Resource > Perennial Encyclopedia.
Available @ http://www.perennialresource.com/encyclopedia/view/?plant=1984

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Silvermoon.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 8, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP0156139

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents. Section 2: Botanical Terms: Subsection 3: Color: (2): Color Names for the RHS Colour Chart.” UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc?2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ Has Large White Flowers and Sells as ‘HGC Joel’®.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-coseh-210-has-large-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 710’ Has Light Green Flowers With Reddish Pink Flushes.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-710-has-light-green.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 740’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-740-has-white-flowers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ Has Purple-Spotted White Double Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-double-surprise-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-josef-lemper-has-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ Has Red Purple-Spotted White Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-lady-freckle-has-red.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘COSEH 700’ Has Large Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-coseh-700-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jacob’ Has White to Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-hgc-jacob-has.html

“PP15639 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Silvermoon.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11605

Rice, Graham; Elizabeth Strangman. The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Hellebores. Newton Abbot, England: David and Charles, 2005.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Flinck Obelisk

Summary: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft exiles one etching, two bronzes and 10 paintings, including the Flinck obelisk, from home March 18, 1990.

"Landscape With an Obelisk," 1638 oil on panel by Dutch Golden Age painter Govert Teuniszoon Flinck (Jan. 25, 1615-Feb. 2, 1660), removed from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during March 1990 art theft: The Yorck Project, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Dutch 17th-century landscape accepts an Egyptian obelisk as insightfully as an early 20th-century museum affords a 21st-century addition 22 years after the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Flinck obelisk historically became part of the Museum collection through misidentifications that brought it into the second-floor Dutch Room 87 years before March 18, 1990. Misattribution as a Rembrandt carried the oil on panel to a tabletop mount where proper attribution confirmed its continued placement back-to-back with Johannes Vermeer's The Concert. Post-theft sightings describe the Manet cafegoer, the Rembrandt seascape and the Vermeer concert and divulge nothing regarding the missing etching, two bronzes and seven other paintings.

The 81-minute, $500-plus million-valued museum robbery exiles one 167-year-old finial (flag topper), one 3,090-plus-year-old beaker and works by two 19th-century French and three 17th-century Dutch painters.

Govert Teuniszoon Flinck (Jan. 25, 1615-Feb. 2, 1660) fit his obelisk, a stone structure with a pyramidal top and a quadrangular base, into a Dutch countryside.

The 27.94-inch- (71-centimeter-) high, 21.44-inch- (54.5-centimeter-) wide Landscape with an Obelisk from 1638 historically gets ringside views onto the gabled, glass skylight-enclosed, summer nasturtium-draped inner courtyard. Museum provenance and purchase records have the £4,500 purchase from the George Rath collection in Budapest, Hungary through Colnaghi & Co., art dealers in London, England. They indicate the English dealers intermediating acquisition through payment in 1900 from Mrs. Gardner's art historian, Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865-Oct. 6, 1959), on-site in Europe.

Perhaps the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft perpetrators join Berenson's judging the Flinck obelisk "a work of art of exquisite, sweet pathos and profound feeling."

Mrs. John Lowell Gardner's (April 14, 1840-July 17, 1924) will keeps up the entire Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum possessions and premises with a $1 million endowment.

The endowment leaves 30 centuries of decorations and furnishings, in their exact places at Mrs. Gardner's death, for "the education and enjoyment of the public forever." Museum inventories mention among artworks busts, choir books, columns, friezes, letters, manuscripts, paintings, photos, scrolls and tiles in the courtyard and throughout three floors of furnishings. They note among furnishings that simultaneously nudge artwork status andirons, bureaus, candlesticks, chairs, chalices, coffers, glass, lace, mantelpieces, pennants, plates, scepters, sofas, swords, tapestries and textiles.

Off-street windows offer, since the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft, two empty frames tabletop views of marble benches, statues and tiles in the courtyard below.

Italian architect Renzo Piano pulled the reverse of the Flinck obelisk by putting the Museum's glass and steel Addition next to the 15th-century-styled, 19th-century-built, 20th-century-opened Museum.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum quit a vulnerable past with almost all but the endowed collection queuing into the Addition's community-oriented spaces since Jan. 19, 2012. The Museum's simultaneous renovation with the Addition's realization results in the entire property's climate-controlled, theft-insured coverage by covert, low-light, night-vision, pan, tilt and zoom security systems. Police photographs from 27 years ago show only physical evidence of broken frames and glass because of simple video surveillance tapes easily stolen by the thieves.

Heightened, updated security tells the Flinck obelisk and the 12 other Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft casualties that it is safe to come back home.

"Self-Portrait," ca. 1640 oil on panel by Dutch Golden Age painter Govert Flinck, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, South West Scotland: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"Landscape With an Obelisk," 1638 oil on panel by Dutch Golden Age painter Govert Teuniszoon Flinck (Jan. 25, 1615-Feb. 2, 1660), removed from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during March 1990 art theft: The Yorck Project, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_076.jpg

"Self-Portrait," ca. 1640 oil on panel by Dutch Golden Age painter Govert Flinck, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, South West Scotland: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Govaert_Flinck_Self_Portrait.jpg

Flinck's landscaped obelisk was displayed in the second-floor Dutch Room, described by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's website as a place for special occasion entertainment by Mrs. Gardner, offering "a stunning view into the courtyard": view of inner courtyard, June 29, 2015: Nic McPhee (Unhindered by Talent), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/18660473624/

original Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a 19th-century building with 15th-century styling, as viewed from 20th century addition by Italian architect Renzo Piano; glassed-in passageway (lower center) connects the addition to the original: Robert Gray (AtHandGuides.com), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/55063261@N06/6917282500/

For further information:

"18 U.S. Code § 668 - Theft of Major Artwork." Cornell University Law School > Legal Information Institute > U.S. Code > Title 18 > Part I > chapter 31 > 668.
Available @ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/668?quicktabs_8=1#quicktabs-8

Baker, Billy. 10 March 2015. "Gardener Keeps Gardner Museum's Atrium in Bloom." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/09/gardener-keeps-gardner-atrium-bloom/bbSZctlMtkEDy9UDYWrO4K/story.html

Boston Landmarks Commission. Report on the Potential Designation of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as Amended.
Available @ https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/ISGM%20Study%20Report%20as%20Amended_tcm3-39717.pdf

"Collection." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/collection

FBI. "FBI Announces Top Ten Art Crimes." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > News > Stories > 2005 > November. November 15, 2005.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2005/november/topten_art111505

FBI. "Gardner Museum in Boston Offering $5 Million Reward for Stolen Art." YouTube. March 8, 2013.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpD1HbcFfQ

FBI Boston Division. "Boston FBI Continues Hunt for Stolen Artwork." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2010.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2010/bs031510.htm

FBI Boston Division. "FBI Provides New Information Regarding the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Heist." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2013.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2013/fbi-provides-new-information-regarding-the-1990-isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art-heist

"The Gardner Museum Theft." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > FBI Top Ten Art Crimes.
Available @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

"Johannes Vermeer: The Complete Works." Vermeer Foundation.
Available @ http://www.vermeer-foundation.org/

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Couple." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_20.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Seascape." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_13.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Self-Portrait." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Vermeer Concert." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_27.html

Mashberg, Tom. March 1998. "Stealing Beauty." Vanity Fair > Culture.
Available @ http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/1998/03/biggest-art-heist-us-history

Mashberg, Tom. 26 February 2015. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist: 25 Years of Theories." New York Times > Arts > Art & Design.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/arts/design/isabella-stewart-gardner-heist-25-years-of-theories.html?_r=0

Murphy, Shelley. 17 March 2015. "Search for Artworks from Gardner Heist Continues 25 Years Later." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/17/gardner-museum-art-heist-one-boston-most-enduring-mysteries-years-later/9U3tp1kJMa4Zn4uClI1cdM/story.html

"Reputed Mobster Arrested, Reportedly Tried to Fence Gardner Museum Art." The Boston Globe. Posted Apr 17, 2015 at 3:14 PM. Updated Apr 18, 2015 at 10:52 PM.
Available @ http://www.telegram.com/article/20150417/NEWS/304179654

"Thirteen Works: Explore the Gardner's Stolen Art." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum > Resources > Theft.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/resources/theft

Thomson, Jason. 3 May 2016. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Theft: Is the Massive Art Heist About to be Solved?" The Christian Science Monitor > USA > USA Update.
Available @ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0503/Isabella-Stewart-Gardner-theft-Is-the-massive-art-heist-about-to-be-solved

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. "Gardner Museum Surveillance Excerpt." YouTube. Aug. 6, 2015.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSw1BsJEBB4

Vila, Bob. 31 October 2011. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOGMbOoZPA

WBUR. 12 March 2009. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irBRWMMHOI8

Williams, Paige. March 2010. "The Art of the Story." Boston Magazine > Gardner Museum > Gardner Museum Theft.
Available @ http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2010/03/gardner-heist/3/

February 2017 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Over Every Continent Except Australia

Summary: The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse is visible over every continent except Australia.

graphics and details for penumbral lunar eclipse of Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017ls: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site

The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse that ushers in the year’s lineup of two lunar and two solar eclipses is visible over every continent except Australia.

Visibility of February’s penumbral lunar eclipse happens Friday, Feb. 10, in the Western Hemisphere. Eclipse visibility for most of the Eastern Hemisphere takes place Saturday morning, Feb. 11.

On the Asian mainland in the Eastern Hemisphere, visibility does not extend to Russia’s Far East, northeastern China, North Korea or South Korea. The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse disfavors most of the Pacific Ocean. Major Pacific islands, such as Japan, New Guinea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Taiwan, are outside of the geographic regions of eclipse visibility.

All of the Lower 48 states of the continental United States have eclipse visibility. The United States’ five Caribbean territories (disputed Bajo Nuevo Bank, disputed Navassa Island, Puerto Rico, disputed Serranilla Bank, U.S. Virgin Islands) also fall within the eclipse’s viewing regions.

Western Alaska falls outside of the visibility path. The state of Hawaii joins the United States 11 Pacific territories in exclusion for viewing the February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse.

The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse begins with the instant of the moon’s first contact with Earth’s penumbra, the weak part of Earth’s shadow. The instant of first contact is identified as P1.

NASA’s eclipse expert, retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak, gives Friday, Feb. 10, at 22:34 Coordinated Universal Time as the start time for the penumbral lunar eclipse. For continental U.S. time zones, the eclipse begins Friday, Feb. 10, at 5:34 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; 4:34 p.m. Central Standard Time; 3:34 p.m. Mountain Standard Time; 2:34 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. For U.S. territories in the Caribbean Sea, the eclipse starts at 6:34 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time.

The eclipse ends with the instant of last contact with Earth’s penumbral shadow. The last contact instant is identified as P4.

Espenak, known popularly as Mr. Eclipse, gives Saturday, Feb. 11, at 02:53 UTC as the penumbral lunar eclipse’s instant of last contact. For continental U.S. time zones, P4 happens Friday, Feb. 10, at 9:53 p.m. EST; 8:53 p.m. CST; 7:53 p.m. MST; 6:53 p.m. PST. For U.S. Caribbean territories, eclipse ending time is 10:53 p.m. AST.

In between first and last contacts, the greatest eclipse is logged. The greatest eclipse marks the instant of the moon’s closest passage to the axis of Earth’s shadow. Greatest eclipse occurs Saturday, Feb. 11, at 00:43 UTC. For continental U.S. time zones, greatest eclipse happens Friday, Feb. 10, at 7:43 p.m. EST; 6:43 p.m. CST; 5:43 p.m. MST; 4:43 p.m. PST. For U.S. Caribbean territories, greatest eclipse takes place at 7:43 p.m. AST.

The eclipse’s duration is 4 hours 19 minutes. Lacking the drama of total or partial umbral lunar eclipses, penumbral lunar eclipses do not offer visibility for the event’s entire duration. A possible span of one to two hours for best visibility centers on the instant of greatest eclipse.

The February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse is the first of the year’s two lunar eclipses. The second eclipse, which will be partial, takes place in August.

The August 2017 event is a partial lunar eclipse. Entrance by only a portion of the moon into Earth’s umbral segment occasions a partial lunar eclipse.

The takeaway for the February 2017 penumbral lunar eclipse is that its wide visibility encompasses six of Earth’s seven continents and parts or all of Earth’s five oceans.

Earth’s orientation, as viewed from the moon’s center during greatest eclipse: SockPuppetForTomruen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

graphics and details for penumbral lunar eclipse of Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017ls: "Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment, Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC Emeritus," via NASA Eclipse Web Site @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2017Feb11N.pdf

Earth’s orientation, as viewed from the moon’s center during greatest eclipse: SockPuppetForTomruen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_eclipse_from_moon-2017Feb11.png

For further information:

“Eclipses in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/honolulu

Espenak, Fred. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of 2017 Feb 11.” Eclipse Wise > Lunar Eclipses.
Available @ http://eclipsewise.com/lunar/LEprime/2001-2100/LE2017Feb11Nprime.html

Espenak, Fred. Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses 1501 to 2500. Portal AZ: Astropixels Publishing, 2014.

Espenak, Fred, and Jean Meeus. “Five Millennium Catalog of Lunar Eclipses.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Lunar Eclipse Publications Online.
Available @ http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LE2001-2100.html

“February 10 / February 11, 2017  Penumbral Lunar Eclipse.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2017-february-11

Marriner, Derdriu. “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Sept. 16 Is Last of Three 2016 Lunar Eclipses.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/09/penumbral-lunar-eclipse-sept16-is-last.html

McClure, Bruce. “Penumbral Eclipse on Night of February 10.” EarthSky > Tonight. Feb. 10, 2017.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/penumbral-eclipse-on-night-of-february-10

“Solar and Lunar Eclipses Worldwide -- Next 10 Years.” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/list.html

Webb, Brian. “Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).” Space Archive. March 27, 2016.
Available @ http://www.spacearchive.info/utc.htm

“What Does the Magnitude of an Eclipse Mean?” Time and Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses.
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/magnitude.html

Rigoletto Is the Feb. 4, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Feb. 4, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Rigoletto, a three-act tragic opera by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi.

Verdi's Rigoletto airs as the Feb. 4, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera, via Twitter Jan. 20, 2017

Rigoletto, a three-act, tragic opera concerning the horrific fulfillment of a curse by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901), is the Feb. 4, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Italian librettist Francesco Maria Piave (May 18, 1810-March 5, 1876) wrote the Italian libretto. The literary source is Le Roi s’amuse, a five-act play by French dramatist, novelist and poet Victor Marie Hugo (Feb. 26, 1801-May 22, 1885). Hugo’s play, set in 15th century Paris, concerns the excessive amorous exploits of François Ier (Francis I, Sept. 12, 1494-March 31, 1547) ninth of the 13 kings of France’s House of Valois dynasty who reigned from April 1, 1328, to Aug. 2, 1589.

Rigoletto’s triumphant premiere took place March 11, 1851. The venue was Teatro La Fenice in the San Marco sestiere (“area”) of Venice in northeastern Italy. Opened Dec. 26, 1837, as replacement for the first, destroyed in a fire Dec. 13, 1836, La Fenice’s second building hosted all five of Verdi’s Venice premieres. Rigoletto marked La Fenice’s third Verdi premiere.

The composer and his librettist set Rigoletto in the 16th century. The locale is the Duchy of Mantua in northwestern Italy’s Lombardy region. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 production fast forwards Rigoletto to Las Vegas, Clark County, southeastern Nevada, in 1960.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Cyrano de Bergerac begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 3 hours 2 minutes. The performance, sung in the original Italian, comprises three acts and two intermissions.

Act I is timed at 57 minutes. A 27-minute intermission follows Act I.

Act II is timed at 32 minutes. A 32-minute intermission follows Act II.

Act III is timed at 34 minutes. The Saturday matinee broadcast performance ends with Act III’s final notes.

Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Rigoletto. Pier Giorgio Morandi’s appearance on the conductor’s podium marks his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Željko Lučić appears in the title role as the Duke of Mantua’s humpbacked jester, who learns, at a terrible price, the lesson of what goes around comes around. He was born in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, northern Serbia. Serbian operatic baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 as Barnaba in La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli (Aug. 31, 1834-Jan. 16, 1886). Željko Lučić also appears this season in the title role of Verdi’s Nabucco and as Jochanaan in Salome by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949).

Olga Peretyatko appears as Gilda, Rigoletto’s trusting daughter whose misplaced love for the libertine Duke of Mantua, her father’s womanizing patron, impels her to sacrifice her life. Her birthplace is St. Petersburg, northwestern Russia. The Russian operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014 as Elvira Walton in I Puritani by Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835).

Stephen Costello appears as the Duke of Mantua, who unscrupulously seduces his jester’s naïve daughter. His birthplace is Philadelphia, southeastern Pennsylvania. The American operatic tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2007 as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Domenico Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848). Stephen Costello also appears this season as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Stephen Costello appears in January performances and in the Saturday matinee broadcast. He shares the role of the dissolute duke this season with Joseph Calleja.

Born in Attard, central Malta, Joseph Calleja appears in all April performances. His appearance as the unfaithful Duke marks the Maltese tenor’s Metropolitan Opera debut.

Andrea Mastroni appears as Sparafucile, an assassin who promises his sister to spare the Duke’s life if another target appears by midnight. He was born in Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. The Italian bass’s appearance as Sparafucile marks his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Andrea Mastroni appears in all January performances as well as in the Saturday matinee broadcast. He shares the role of Sparafucile this season with Štefan Kocán, who appears in all April performances.

Born in Trnava, western Slovakia, Štefan Kocán debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009 as the King of Egypt in Verdi’s Aida. The Slovak operatic bass also appears this season as the Commendatore in Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) and as Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Oksana Volkova appears as Maddalena, who besottedly extracts a promise from her brother, Sparafucile, that has devastating consequences. Her birthplace is Minsk, Republic of Belarus. The Belarusian mezzo-soprano reprises the role she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2013.

Oksana Volkova appears in all January performances as well as in the Saturday matinee broadcast. She shares the role of Maddalena this season with Nancy Fabiola Herrera, who appears in all April performances.

Born in Caracas, north central coastal Venezuela, to Canadian parents, Nancy Fabiola Herrera debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2015 as Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. The Spanish mezzo-soprano also appears this season as Fenena in Verdi’s Nabucco and as Herodias in Richard Strauss’s Salome.

Operabase, an online database, places Giuseppe Verdi in first place in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Rigoletto occupies 10th place in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Rigoletto holds sixth place, with 878 performances, for the period from first Met performance, Nov. 16, 1883, to last performance, Dec. 17, 2015. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Rigoletto as the Feb. 4, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the horrible fulfillment of a curse flung as Rigoletto’s naïve daughter sacrifices her life to save her father’s dissolute patron. Unlike Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Verdi’s serial seducer eludes accountability.

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's performances of Verdi's Rigoletto mark the third revival of Michael Mayer's staging, which debuted as a new production at Met Opera Jan. 28, 2013: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Jan. 20, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Verdi's Rigoletto airs as the Feb. 4, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera, via Twitter Jan. 20, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/822520648165519360

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's performances of Verdi's Rigoletto mark the third revival of Michael Mayer's staging, which debuted as a new production at Met Opera Jan. 28, 2013: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Jan. 20, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158228862185533/

For further information:

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera. "Plans tonight in #NewYork? Verdi's Rigoletto @MetOpera." Twitter. Jan. 20, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/822520648165519360

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Olga Peretyatko is Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto. Tickets from $25: bit.ly/2jtqHyP Photo by Richard Termine//Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Jan. 20, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158228862185533/

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ Has Red Purple-Spotted White Flowers

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle,’ a Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) variety by German hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has red purple-spotted white flowers.

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878416, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,618; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle,’ a Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) variety by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has red purple-spotted white flowers.

On June 28, 2004, Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent for Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger’s application. On March 1, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,618 to Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ has its origins in a breeding program established in January 1999 by Joseph Heuger at his family’s nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany. Unnamed, unpatented female and male Helleborus orientalis seedlings were cross-pollinated in a controlled environment. The inventor discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ from among the cross-pollinated parents’ offspring.

The new variety displayed distinctive traits, such as attractive flower and leaf colorations; a mounded, upright habit; relatively early flowering. Propagation by divisions, begun in March 2001, confirmed the retention and true reproduction of the new cultivar’s unique features over successive generations.

Heuger’s patent application describes plants, at about 6 months of age, grown indoors in 15-centimeter (5.90-inch) containers during winter. During production, the day temperature in the glass-covered greenhouse in Glandorf registered about 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The night temperature was about 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F).

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ has a temperature tolerance that ranges from minus 12 to 36 degrees C (10.4 to 96.8 degrees F).

The new cultivar’s moderately vigorous growth yields a mounded, upright plant habit, with basal leaves and single flowers. Plant height measures about 25 centimeters (9.84 inches). Width, or spread, measures about 40 centimeters (15.748 inches).

Basal foliage is palmately compound. Five to six leaflets radiate from the leaf’s single attachment point at the distal, or far, end of the petiole, or leaf stalk.

Leaflet lengths range from 6 to 9.5 centimeters (2.36 to 3.74 inches). Widths range from about 2.2 to 3.5 centimeters (0.86 to 1.37 inches).

Lanceolate, or lance-shaped, leaflets have serrated margins. Glabrous surface textures are hairlessly smooth.

Upper surfaces of fully expanded leaflets are dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart color 147A). Lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 147B). Venation of upper and lower surfaces is brown green (RHS 146D).

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ has a relatively early and long natural blooming period. Intermittent flowering stretches from November to February in Glandorf. On the plant, flowers last about 10 days.

The new variety’s floral type and habit reveal single, outwardly drooping, rounded flowers, each in a single arrangement on short peduncles, or floral stems. Peduncles are about 4.5 centimeters (1.77 inches) in length, with a diameter of about 2 millimeters (0.07 inches).

Despite their bent orientation, peduncles are moderately strong. Their glabrous texture is hairlessly smooth. Coloring is light green (RHS 145A).

A freely flowering habit encourages about 15 developed flowers per plant over the blooming period. Typically each plant has more than one flowering stem.

Ovoid, or egg-shaped, flower buds measure a diameter of about 1 centimeter (0.39 inches) and a height of about 1.5 centimeters (0.59 inches). Bud coloring is light green (RHS 145C to 145D).

Flowers have minute petals that form inconspicuous nectaries. Sepals typically number five per flower, forming a single whorl.

Sepal length and width have identical measurements. Sepals measure 3 centimeters (1.18 inches) in length and also in width.

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have smooth, untoothed margins, described as entire. Glabrous upper and lower surface textures are hairlessly and satiny smooth.

Upper and lower surfaces of developing and fully expanded sepals are white (RHS 155C). Spots toward the center of upper surfaces are dark purple red (RHS 59B).

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ is the lengthy opportunities, via the new Heuger hellebore’s early and extensive blooming period, for enjoyment of red purple-spotted white flowers that top light green floral stems and contrast attractively with dark green leaves.

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878416, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,618; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878416, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,618; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP15618; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15618.pdf)

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878416, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,618; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP15618; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15618.pdf)

For further information:

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide. Portland OR: Timber Press, 2006.

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 1, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015618

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents. Section 2: Botanical Terms: Subsection 3: Color: (2): Color Names for the RHS Colour Chart.” UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc?2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ Has Large White Flowers and Sells as ‘HGC Joel’®.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-coseh-210-has-large-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 710’ Has Light Green Flowers With Reddish Pink Flushes.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-710-has-light-green.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 740’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-740-has-white-flowers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ Has Purple-Spotted White Double Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-double-surprise-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves." Earth and Space News. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-josef-lemper-has-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘COSEH 700’ Has Large Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-coseh-700-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jacob’ Has White to Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-hgc-jacob-has.html

“PP15618 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11584

Rice, Graham; Elizabeth Strangman. The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Hellebores. Newton Abbot, England: David and Charles, 2005.