I agree they are BEAUTIFUL, yesterday I was out side surveying my poor dead plants and ready to jank off all the dead stuff, instead I opted for triming the dead stuff and I was nicely surprised, my yellow Brug she is coming BACK! so are some of my geraniums my pony tail palm well she is DEAD so are most of my cactus, my purple wisteria is trying to to bloom the purple passion vine is also coming back I lost quite a few plants but as of today I am not janking out anything that looks dead who knows with this rain I just might have more survivors!! Marcie

Hellebores are coming to life, buds are just on the verge of opening. I have three different varieties of snowdrops, one of them is blooming, it is quite tall and has larger flowers then the others. The other two are showing some white but haven't opened yet, one of these has very shiny green leaves. I used to think a snowdrop was a snowdrop, was a snowdrop until I found this site in the link below. Have a look see, I didn't realize there were so many different ones, live and learn. February daphne is covered in white flower buds just waiting for a sunny day as is Daphne odora marginata. The tulips in pots are poking through so they will probably need a bit of protection next month, most februarys we have a two week period of freezing weather. Brunnera 'Jack Frost' is showing new growth along with my daylilies and pulmonarias so I quess it's time to cut all the old foliage off the epemidiums so the flowers will show. I haven't ventured up to see if the chinodoxa have popped through yet and I don't have any crocus open yet but my neighbor has a couple open in a sheltered spot. The winter jasmine is in full bloom now, for the first time in several years it's managed to do this before a freeze bleached the color out of the flowers. Probably a few more things have started just haven't noticed them yet. Come on spring, I'm ready :o). Annette Here is a link that might be useful: Judy's Snowdrops

OK, we're sick of cold and white stuff and will be driving to see relatives (long overdue) in the southeast for the next couple of weeks so thought I'd better update planning for our spring fling plant swap. Some our 'swappers' come from further away than the twin cities AND that is also the date for the Shades of Green Hosta Society Plant sale in Rochester (8-12) so wanted to give distance travelers and folks who would like a chance to check out that sale earlier to have a chance to do so then grab a bite at one of our great restaurants before the swap while finishing in plenty of time for everyone to get home safely. What say we aim for starting the swap at 2pm (flexible based on input) on Sat. 5/18. Let me know if you think you can make it and I'll provide directions. will

Kandituft, I did some winter sowing this week too. How could it be too late? Anything sown in December would have been frozen all this time anyway so I figure this is about when the seeds and dirt would start heating up. Today I spread bloodmeal around the bulbs that are starting to show up. Last fall I put in a new group of tulips and laid chicken wire down over the patch to thwart the pesky squirrels. No signs of tulips there yet and when I tried to lift off the chicken wire, it was still frozen to the ground in one corner. It's quite amazing how different sections of the garden have their own microclimates. In a less exposed section, the crocuses are nearly several inches tall. They sleep all winter under about a foot of heavy leaves so I have to get that stuff off early, before the crocuses get too leggy. It was a pleasure to rake it up today. Here's the annoyance of the day- I opened a brand new pack of dianthus seeds and it's completely empty! It might only be $1.79 but still. What a rip.