Daphne ‘Lawrence Crocker’ flower

I’m seeing some unexpected spring flowers already and it’s tempting to just skip winter altogether and move on to spring.  We had almost no snow last year and nothing on the horizon for this year.  This tiny little Daphne with bright pink (and very fragrant) flowers would love to be in a real rock garden but it will have to settle for a spot in the garden next to the garage while it slowly grows to shrub size.

Daphne ‘Lawrence Crocker’

Another surprise this week was the first flower on Primula kisoana

Primula kisoana

Another flower this week that was more or less expected (but fully appreciated nonetheless) was the first snowdrop of the year.

First Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)

Lest we get totally carried away by these first harbingers of spring, I’m still willing to celebrate the remains of the autumn.  The spirea at the back of the garage is a multi-season plant and at the moment is in it’s full fall color.

Spirea thubergii Ogon fall color

All around the yard the various hollies have been having a field day.  For some reason they decided to really ‘berry-up’ this year.

English Holly

And the Heavenly Bamboo beside the garage is doing what that plant’s designer intended.  Beautiful foliage and then berries as an extra special reward.

Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica)