Winter may begin on December 1st of the 21st but one thing that meteorologists and the general public agrees is that February is still winter. That being said, February is the end of winter.
That being said, I've heard that March is still winter in Ithaca. Well, after a long 3 weeks of second semester, I went back to the tropics of Maryland. Took a trip down to National Arboretum in DC to see spring come a month early. Every day over Break in DC was in the 70s. It was glorious.
The Japanese Apricots (Prunus mume) were in full bloom. They are the earliest blooming of the Prunus genus (cherry, peach, apricot, ect) There are probably hundreds of varieties out there, red pink, white, double, single, you name it. It's such a cute tree but not planted very often.
The earlier camellias are actually done blooming. They've been lucky not to be wrecked by frosts (as if there have been any).
Elsewhere, the traditional spring flowers, Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), top; Snowdrops on the left, and Daffodils on the right. In other garden news, the famous cherry blossom buds are starting. The peony buds are ready to pop. All they're waiting for is some persistent warmth. The forecast doesn't seem to want to drop temperatures below freezing for a while so the growing season is probably going to start for many plants, especailly those imported from areas less prone to large temperature swings (Asian Magnolias I'm looking at you). If that pans out, let's hope there are no late cold snaps. Otherwise we're going to get some unhappy gardens.
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