Awakenings

I pretty much took last year off from blogging. Twelve months ago this week, my wife and I came home from the hospital with a surprise baby, and I had just started a full-time job so I didn’t have time to plant, weed, mulch, or water–let alone write about it. I spent so little time in my garden that a herd of mastodons could have bivouacked in the flowerbeds without my noticing.

Then there was winter. You must understand that I grew up in South Carolina, so in my mind, “winter” should run from mid January to late February and should be about 53 degrees. Winter this year started in early December, with snow on the day of the Christmas parade as well as on Christmas Day itself. You would think we were living in Wisconsin instead of North Carolina–the only difference being that Wisconsin has a professional football team. We have the Panthers.

I promised myself that I would get back to blogging once stuff started blooming. That happened this week, with the aforementioned hellebores, whose first blooms opened on the 16th.

Creeping Phlox

On the 17th, a tiny flower opened on the pink creeping phlox. Just one, but I’m counting it.

Veronica "Georgia Blue"

Winter Jasmine

The 18th, the first flowers emerged on the Georgia Blue Veronica and Winter Jasmines.

And the 19th, the white phlox in Andy’s Garden and the first daffodil.

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