In the February Garden

A wintry storm with bitter cold temperatures is headed our way, though whether it actually arrives is another matter. Forecasters tend to get excited and talk for days about any sort of ice or snow, but often it fizzles out and we all end up with extra milk and bread for no good reason. (The grocers in our area must be thrilled whenever winter precipitation is predicted, as everyone is obligated to stock up for blizzard conditions, even if only a dusting of snow is forecast. This is tradition.)

Yesterday, while Lou went to the store for emergency milk and bread, I went for a walk around the garden. There are a few flowers blooming in anticipation of spring, which, winter storm or not, should be here in a few weeks.

Flowering quince, Chaenomales, is one of the earliest signs of spring and will continue to bloom profusely for weeks:

Hellebores also are early bloomers, and their flowers will persist for months, all of them eventually shading to pale green:Fortunately, most of my daffodils are not yet blooming and should do OK through the winter storm, but a few are flowering. I am glad I got to see them before they got zapped:Here are some more scenes around the February garden:

You may note the Nandina domestica, growing above. This has proven to be terribly invasive, and I have pulled hundreds of these plants out of my woodland garden. The area shown here is a wild area immediately adjacent to the garden. I have given up trying to eradicate them all, and I am now content to keep them under control. My neighbors love these, and one can still find them for sale. Sigh. At least they are pretty.

I will end with a few pot shots, focusing on details, since most of these containers are empty, waiting for spring:

The Daffodils of March (and a Few Other Blooms)

Oh, daffodils, how happy are your faces, and how bravely you endure rainy days and chilly, even freezing nights!

I am so glad to see the the sunny colors of daffodils, blooming by the hundreds in my March garden. Normally, early bloomers push up in January or February, but this year they waited into March; and at same time, the rest of the daffodils felt the warm sunshine and decided to bloom, too. So now we have this mass of daffodils, and I can't help but be pleased:

Little else is blooming, although buds are swelling slowly on the quince bushes:

And I must not forget the hellebores, for they were the first to emerge and bloom, just a couple weeks ago, despite our persistent wintry weather:Edgeworthia's wooly blooms are almost fully open, too:

Spring struggles to take hold. We have a day or two of sunny days with temps into the 70s, and everyone dances out to play in the garden. Then the weather turns cold and nasty again. A local weathermen recently said we may have snow the middle of March. Excuse me, this is the DEEP South, and that should not happen! (It does, once every quarter century or so.) I must remind myself that it is still winter, according to the calendar.

Not at all contented with the cheerful daffodils, winter is throwing buckets of cold rain at us again today. The daffodils may hang their heads to the ground. Some of them may give up and turn to mush, but I expect others will be waiting for the next warm day to lift their faces and declare that we are going to have a spring party, and winter is not invited!