Progress of Spring (Not!)
J.E. Shields (Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:50:42 PST)

Yesterday it was sunny, temperatures reached over 60°F (ca. 15°C) here, and
I took a look at the woodland garden. The only Trillium up was the same as
a few weeks ago: One little patch of T. nivale was up, but still with no
color showing.

Galanthus elwesii is up and showing white buds. One batch of G. nivalis, f.
atkisii, is also up and showing white buds. This is actually progress.
Other Galanthus are mostly not up, certainly not showing any white color.

A couple of Corydalis species were up, but just barely. No sign of any of
the C. solida yet.

A few patches of Colchicum have foliage up a couple of inches. The leaves
are almost purple, probably from the cold.

One Cyclamen is also up, in a spot I'm pretty sure I did not plant any
Cyclamen in; so it must have been transplanted by a squirrel. They seem to
do that here.

Nothing else in sight for the spring, but I uncovered a seed head of
Arisaema heterophyllum full of bright red fruits. Somehow, I never spotted
that last autumn.

Brrrrr! Temperatures are back down to 41°F (5°C), its raining off and on,
there are flash flood warnings, and they are predicting freezing rain
overnight. Great!

Jim Shields
in miserable central Indiana (USA)

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Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA