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February 2007
Before sunset, the skies lightened and the wind abated. While it was yet light the sanderlings left the barrier island and set out across the sound. Beneath them as they wheeled over the inlet was the deep green ribbon of the channel that wound, with many curvings, across the lighter shallows of the sound. They followed the channel, passing between the leaning red spar buoys, past the tide rips where the water streamed, broken into swirls and eddies, over a sunken reef of oyster shell, and came at last to the island. There they joined a company of several hundred white-rumped sandpipers, least sandpipers, and ring-necked plovers that were resting on the sand. From Under the Sea-Wind by Rachel Carson 1941 2006 Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir 2/13/2006 Yesterday we delighted in the snowfall. It comes and goes infrequently here so we appreciate the awesome cold deep silence. Then, almost instantly, the blooming violas, sprouting hellebore leaves, and daffodil buds are uncovered by the thaw and the anticipation of spring is renewed again. 2005 Flowers are love's truest language. Park Benjamin
Brugmansia Close-up This February we went south where winter can be relieved for a few days by lovely tropical flowers like this brugmansia. 2004 2/17/2004 Pink Panda, ornamental strawberry, is a beautiful ground cover. I noticed some blossoms today while out doing chores in the garden.
2/14/2004 Saw a beautiful robin today. Bulb foliage is up everywhere. Tonight we may even get snow but everything is budded and looks ready and waiting for just the right temperature to burst forth. Spring, glorious spring is almost here. 2/13/2004 On this cold gray day, I went out to
plant some newly acquired Lily of the Valley pips. They had already broken
dormancy and brittle roots made it impossible to separate them so I planted the
whole clump of eight in a vacant spot in a large container with some
Ranunculas. Necessity makes interesting plant
combinations.
Primula obconica 2/12/2004 A window dressing, even in their greenhouse pots, of Primulas likes the cool environment. The round undulating-edge foliage on these Primula obconica looks more like Pelargonium foliage from a distance. Since they will have difficulty enduring the heat of summer, I may have to be satisfied with enjoying them as winter indoor plants. June Cooper Watercolor Galleries The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono 2003 Shoots and
sprouts signify the beginning of the rebirth of spring in the South. On one of
those shirt-sleeve-mild days, daffodils, redbuds, forsythia, saucer magnolias, or flowering quince may burst
into bloom to join the winter blooming camellias. Just
as easily, the next day may produce an ice storm. Although the weather is
erractic, there is nothing so refreshing as the intermitent mild days. There is
a tree in the back garden ringed with daffodils. Each year I expectantly await
their dancing in the wind. But, to alleviate winter weather doldrums, African violets are my favorite. African Violet Society of America Photo Gallery Garden At Huntercombe Manor 1882-83
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Donna's Garden Journal