Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - February 2012

Snowdrops in the snow

Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for February 2012.

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden, I've been enjoying a mild winter.  But I've been enjoying it with one eye open, watching for winter, wondering where it is, waiting for it to send us some real snow and cold and wind.

Finally after the watching, wondering, and waiting, winter sent us some snow early yesterday morning, leaving flowers like snowdrops covered by about an inch of snow.

No worries, though.  By mid-day, some of the snow had melted on the south side of the house and by late afternoon, most of the snow had melted completely throughout the garden.

We'll be back to our mild winter weather before we know it.

Snow is certainly expected in mid-February around here. Looking back at past bloom days, we didn't have snow on the ground in mid-February in 2011, but we did have a big snow and ice storm at the beginning of February that year.  We had snow in 2010.  We didn't have snow in 2009.  We had snow in 2008. And we definitely had snow in 2007, the first year of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

This little quote seems appropriate for the season...

"Sing a song of Winter
The world stops dead;
Under snowy coverlid
Flowers lie abed."
      From "All in a Garden Fair" by Alice T. A. Quackenbush (A. T. De Le Mare Company, Inc., 1925)

Here are some flowers that "lie abed" under "snowy coverlid" in my garden in mid-February.

There are golden crocuses.

And purple crocuses.

And little violas.

Other blooms braving the cold and snowy coverlid include the witchhazel, Hamamelis vernalis, and the Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger.

Inside, the Christmas cactus which bloomed in December has decided to repeat its blooms for February.

I'd like to think that it is my green thumb, my careful attention to all of this plant's needs, that has caused it to re-bloom. That is only true if neglect and occasional watering qualify as "careful attention". Sometimes, for some plants, that's all it takes.

And that's February in my garden.

What’s blooming in your garden on this mid-February day?

We would love to have you join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and tell us. It’s easy to participate and all are invited.  Just post on your blog about what is blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month and leave a comment to tell us what you have waiting for us to see so we can pay you a virtual visit. Then put your name and the url to your post on the Mr. Linky widget below to make it easy to find you.

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence