blooming

Well, this is as strange a winter as any... snow at the end of January followed by high winds and heavy rains and now bright sunshine and early greening and flowers...

Edgeworthia - heavenly fragrance!

Why, what's the matter, That you have such a February face, So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?"
William Shakespeare,  Much Ado About Nothing

Holly fern buried in snow

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
Bill Morgan, Jr.

Early greening of bulbs

Fragrant Daphne

Bud ripening on Centuria Magnolia

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,
For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,
He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds
From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.
When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,
He visualizes autumn's golden yields;
He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain
Precious moisture for his early grain;
He hears spring-heralds in the storm's turmoil
He knows no winter, he who loves the soil."
Sudie Stuart Hager, He Knows No Winter  
"The word February is believed to have derived from the name 'Februa' taken from the Roman 'Festival of Purification'.  The root 'februo' meaning to 'I purify by sacrifice'.  As part of the seasonal calendar February is the time of the 'Ice Moon' according to Pagan beliefs, and the period described as the 'Moon of the Dark Red Calf' by Black Elk.  February has also been known as 'Sprout-kale' by the Anglo-Saxons in relation to the time the kale and cabbage was edible."

For more information, contact: rose@DunwoodyGardenClub.com