Tis a glorious morning, with temperatures quickly rising from below freezing. In a few minutes, Barbara and I will head out to the mountains, our first hike to a mountaintop in weeks as my cold averse wife seems confident today’s sixty-five degrees (Fahrenheit) will not translate into freezing temperatures at the top. (Spring ephemeral flowers from the hike, below.)

The first package of plants arrived this morning, so a few terrestrial orchids, eryngiums, and rodgersias were planted before we head out. Yesterday, several hours were spent in cleanup, the first significant labor of the new year. There’s still work along the edges to be done, but the worst of it has now been accomplished.

As I sit on the circle, stone patio squirrels romp through the Japanese maples and a chorus of birdsong partially masks barking dogs in the distance. Steep hills on all sides funnel cold into the garden, so early flowering magnolias are behind others up the street. The first full bloom is a few days off, and I hope that damaging freezes delay for a week to allow full enjoyment before turning the flowers to mush. Buds are swelling and perennials emerging everywhere in the garden, and perhaps there will be a few moments to return to this Adirondack chair before dark this evening.