Full Circle

I have come full circle.  Earlier in the week I was reminding the snowmen to think snow and today I was gardening in Next Year (the garden).  Am still hoping for snow at Thistle Manor before winter yields to spring and am still encouraging the snowmen to think snow.

Winter in Tennessee is a mixed bag.  One day it is in the seventies and I'm searching for tank tops.  During the night the temps will drop to the low thirties and I'm searching for my thermals.  As Grandmother Bessie taught me "take one day at a time and enjoy it for what it is."

Since today is a sunny, beautiful winter day, I decided to locate the gardening rake and clean the leaves out of the Lenten Rose bed.  This gardening job should have been done late last fall but the neglectful gardener never completed this chore.

The Lenten Rose bed full of leaves.

Minus a few leaves

The leaf pile!  Whew!  Brown material off to the compost pile.

Lenten Rose, one of my favorites, bringing color to the garden in the dead of winter.

Next Year is not thinking snow, Next Year is thinking spring!

Our neighbors lawn.  

The weatherman is saying the temps will drop during the night and we will have an Arctic blast! An excellent reason to stay inside and stitch on Hannah Breed.

Helleborus orientalis--Lenten Rose

Helleborus or Lenten Rose is one of my favorite perennials.  It blooms in the winter!  It has been know to push its way through  a blanket of  snow to show its beautiful blooms.  This perennial has a very dark green leathery foliage. Helleborus perfers to be planted in a loose woodsy soil where there is shade.  The woods behind Thistle Manor seems to be the idea home for Helleborus. The blooms range in color from white, pink, purple, and mauve.

Many of the plants at Thistle Manor are on the "get tough or die" program.  Being a neglectful gardener, many of the plants thrive on neglect.  Helleborus is one of the plants which thrives on neglect and made the decision to get tough. One of my outside winter chores is removing the very heavy leaf covering from the Helleborus so I can see the beautiful blooms from the kitchen window. 

Seeing the Helleborus bloom always brings a smile to my face, because I know spring is on the way and the other perennials will soon be showing their heads and returning like old friends.