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…

No doubt, trouble lurks in the weeks ahead. The very mild winter has hurried flowering along weeks early for many plants, and for most there’s little reason to be concerned if and when temperatures drop low into the twenties as they almost certainly will sometime and perhaps several times over the next month. Most early…

I could not be happier. This has been a marvelous season for hellebores. After a typical late December start to their flowering season, mid and late season bloomers have come on weeks early. I could not care less that flowers last until April. I’m bored of them by then, as trout lilies (Erythronium) and trilliums…

I am quite fortunate that the variegated leaf, Cornelian cherry dogwood (Cornus mas ‘Variegata’, below) has survived repeated moves as preferred trees were planted too close alongside. I blame this apparent disfavor on its reluctant growth, clearly through no fault of its own, resulting from the several transplants. The glowing, early spring blooms profit from…

No purpose is served by counting the number of hellebores (below) in the garden. Perhaps there are hundreds, at least many dozens, but no matter the count, the goal of helping me get through the long winter has been served again. Yes, there are many other flowers in the garden, and others assist in bringing…

Recent mild temperatures have encouraged me to get out into the garden. Lengthy strolls encouraged by blooming hellebores, snowdrops, witch hazels, and now the first daffodils (below) have been briefly punctuated by pulling of winter weeds that should be plucked before going to seed. Many remain, and there is much clean up to do before…

Out in the garden this afternoon, in short sleeves. I’ve not yet transitioned to shorts, but that’s coming. Certainly, there must be colder days on the way, but spring is near in the garden and thankfully early. For the gardener, a snowdrop or crocus (below) flowering a few weeks ahead of schedule is a bonus,…

Yes, I strolled the garden yesterday, and the day before. Little changed from one day to the next, but I relish even the most minor additions as the days slowly advance until spring. This afternoon, I am surprised and delighted by the first wood anemones (Anemonoides blanda, above) in flower. These have spread slowly in…

Undoubtedly, I’m a bit dense, but when the virtues of winter flowering witch hazels (Hamamelis) are extolled, ‘Arnold Promise’ (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’, below) is rarely mentioned. Yes, it’s common, at least as witch hazels go, but from the dozen or more witch hazels in the garden that flower from late October into March…

I am wandering through the garden on this mild afternoon in early February, doing minimal labor, but savoring the blooms that are more abundant each day. While many hellebores and snowdrops flower, buds of spring flowering camellias (Camellia japonica, below) swell by the day. If days remain mild, there will be lovely red and pink…

Temperatures have warmed to eighteen degrees (Fahrenheit) on this sunny morning the first week of February. Last night’s wind gusts have subsided, so it’s safe to go outdoors without restrictive layers of clothing. I am particularly anxious since forecasts call for milder weather beginning tomorrow. The itch to get going in the garden is growing…

I am quite fond of free plants, particularly those that require no effort on my part. The most obvious freebies in this garden are hellebores. Yes, there are plenty that I paid for, maybe half of the hundred plus in the garden, but beneath a hellebore’s canopy of leathery leaves there are dozens, even hundreds…