Last Saturday and Sunday, the sun magically appeared after a weeks-long stretch of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, wintry mix, and more rain. On Saturday, we saw blue sky, and it seemed a miracle had occurred. Of course, the temperature didn’t rise much above 30°F., but still, we saw sunshine.
Sunday afternoon, I decided to take a walk around our property to see if all of the green things had either drowned or sunk into the mud. Pleasant surprises abounded. I discovered that several pots of boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) and American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) that we purchased at a native plant sale last fall are sprouting new, green leaves, as is the obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana “Miss Manners”) that is growing in a half barrel in our parking area. Bright green daffodil stems are popping up in the beds. We haven’t seen any blooms yet, although several friends report having one or two early daffodils.
I spied a ladybug (ladybird beetle) sitting on the front porch....