A FEBRUARY FACE

"Why, what's the matter,

That you have such a February face,

So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?"

- William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

My February face this year was quite frosty.  Last February was so mild I was re-seeding my lawn and planting cool season vegetables. Even the potted bamboo I have in a pot turned yellow and dried out.  

The harsh winter we have this year may have killed off my semi-tropical plants such as the Banana palm and Elephant ears. I like them so much I will replace them if so.

Blooming in my garden now is Edgeworthia , aka, Paper bush  .

Edgeworthia is so fragrant and is a cheerful sight in the midst of February.  A most unusual shrub which originated in China and was actually used to make paper.

Another favorite is my Hellebores all of which were gifted to me due to their habit of spreading quite quickly.  They were late to bloom this year but now they are putting on quite a show.

I have a border of various colors -ranging from the pink/lavender/burgundy above to a pure white. 

My fruit trees -peach, apple, nectarine and pear are budding and some are blooming.  Last year a late April freeze nipped the Asian pear trees in the bud and I had only a few pears from them.

And a first -Lady Banks rose, an evergreen thornless variety, lost its leaves for the first time.  It has already bounced back due to the warm up we had at the end of this month.

Even though it blooms just once it's a great addition to a trellis because it's green even when not in bloom.

Since we had such an unusually cold winter it's my hope and dream that we will have an early pleasant Spring.  Just a gardener's dream as in the painting I did with that title.