Greetings of the season!

Because it was in the upper 50s, lower 60s on Christmas Day—we got within one degree of the record high temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit set in 1893— I decided to go outside between rain showers and festivities to count how many types of flowers were blooming.

There were snowdrops!

These two snowdrops were blooming in the back garden. There was also one snowdrop in the front garden, which I believe I showed off for bloom day on Dec. 15th. It’s still blooming. Snowdrops in bloom will last a while!

There was also at least one Christmas Rose bloom, Helleborus niger.

There were probably more blooms or at least buds, but this one was the best of them.

In a flower box on the front porch, I left some white pansies in when I pulled out other flowers and added Christmas greenery.

I’m glad I didn’t pull this one out. And now I wonder if some of the pansies I did pull out are blooming on top of the compost pile? I will have to walk back there and check because now that I’ve wondered, I have to know!

And finally, along the walkway, there were still a few puddles of violas in bloom.

I know, I know, I know. These violas aren’t the colors of the Christmas season. They look more like Mardi Gras to me. Will they still be in bloom by Mardi Gras, on Tuesday, March 1, 2022? Who knows? If we have a mild winter and a fast start to spring, by March 1, I’ll probably have flats of new pansies and violas from the little greenhouse around the corner.

I can’t wait!

Update!

There were pansies blooming on the compost pile, sort of!