Well we went from buds creeping into the yard to a snowfall yesterday and super cold temperatures for this GBBD.  It went down to 15 degrees last night.  Despite the cold I thought it was worth noting that one of the Camellias seems to have cold resilience built in as the flowers are still showing on the Camellia ‘Yume’.

All the other Camellias have lost their flowers or are patiently waiting for Spring.

I did notice that the flower buds on the Mahonia in the forest are still there, though whether they will actually open is a matter of question.

Otherwise I thought it was worth noting that, like the Mahonia, some plants are just as noteworthy for there beautiful green leaves.

And there are a number of perennial plants putting their early shoots out of the ground.

For flowers we turn to the greenhouse which is benefiting from my thorough cleaning this Fall.

The Princess Flower is about ten feet tall in the greenhouse and has been flowering since June.  I really don’t know why more people don’t grow these.

I thought I would also share the leaves of a new Hydrangea in the greenhouse that is a birthday gift for Beth.

The mahogany coloring is inspiring…

This Hydrangea is from Juniper Level Botanic Garden.  If you haven’t visited Tony’s website, I encourage you to check it out.