I was up and about a little before sunrise this morning, and the temperature outside was 62º F. It’s now about 11 A.M. here on the east coast, and the temperature on the shady side of the house is 71º F; on the sunny side of the house it’s so hot I had to come in and change into shorts. I’m planting lily bulbs today but thinking about tomatoes. Tecophilaea cyanocrocus opened at about 10 A.M. this morning, and Iris unguicularis has opened a fresh flower this morning. The Crocus korolkowii cultivar ‘Agalik” is also opening. The three of these grow near a west facing wall which is very protected. Out in the open garden, Crocus imperati has joined C. laevigatus. The outside of the flower of Crocus imperati is much brighter yellow than ever before. So many snowdrops have started to bloom that I guess we have to declare the snowdrop season officially started. I never consider the very early forms of Galanthus elwesii to be a part of the snowdrop season here – usually there is a significant gap between them and the general run of snowdrops. But this year there has yet to be a break. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where three species of palm have long grown outside year round in this garden: maybe I should find space for more! My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/