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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

A (Small) Break from Winter

This has not been the prettiest of winters. I usually post pictures of snow and ice and bare trees, but this winter is more about mud and gray days, clouds and rain. We did have some nights near or below zero, and some pretty cold days too, but overall it's been much milder than predicted. Of course, we still have plenty of time for "snow on snow on snow," and for the icy wind to make moan, to quote a favorite poem by Christina Rosetti.

I must admit I miss the "real" winter. I like being snug inside, seeing cardinals bright against white, to hear the wind howl while I sip coffee by the fire. Right about this time of the year, though, I start thinking about spring, and gardens and flowers. The seed catalogs have come and I'll be placing orders pretty soon. I even have a place in mind for some early planting of lettuce.

And then the grocery store brought out the blooms! They have early forced bulbs every year but this year for some reason the price is lower than I can ever remember.

$3.33 for a pot of blooming tulips? Really?

And $.99 for a pot of perfectly pretty primroses?

Marked down bouquets?

I cannot resist. There is nothing that brightens a dull day (boy, I am full of alliteration, aren't I?) like fresh flowers, even if they've been encouraged to bloom in an artificial environment.

I'll take 'em.



Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

4 comments:

  1. Every year after Christmas I buy marked down amaryllis. I have one bloom right now & six stalks budding, some I bought this year, some are from my husband's grandmother that I force to bloom every winter.

    I also keep African violets blooming all winter.

    Then, every year Aldi sells primroses for .99 each! This week they're on sale again & when I went this morning they didn't come in on their truck...so I'll go back on Friday when hopefully, they'll come in. It's a yearly tradition to buy three different colors & keep them blooming in my kitchen window. My mom used to grow them in her flower garden in West Virginia but I can never get them to come back in the spring.

    My husband used to buy flower for me but for the past 5 or 6 yrs he instead gives me free reign at the garden centers in May. I buy some of bedding plants & fill containers with blooms to enjoy all summer. I would rather have flowers than pretty much anything else!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the flowers!
    Frosty cold here tonight!
    A bit of rain / snow headed here after tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I sometimes bring home flowers for an eyeful of color in the deeps of Winter, but this year I'm still enjoying an entire tree! :) We haven't had much snow yet, either, but there's plenty of time for that. And more troublesome right now is the ice! Every path to barn and paddocks is a bit nerve-wracking, especially when carrying water buckets. And the long driveway is just an ice-covered slope...some days I don't even creep down to fetch the mail. Not worth risking my bones for another catalog full of stuff I don't need or want.

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  4. I do not know 99 cent primroses, here in rural Iowa. I had an Amaryllis bloom already but we do not have any luck getting them to rebloom the next year. Any advice?

    I did enjoy your post, Sue.

    ReplyDelete

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