No matter whether the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow this morning, spring has arrived early this year in our part of the country. January was the warmest on record (kept since 1891) - Cliff Mass blogged that it was "April in January", supplies high temp numbers that spin your brain, and notes our average temps were warmer than those of Tallahassee, Florida!
I've lived in the Seattle area my entire life (I know, how dull....) and I never remember seeing forsythia in full flower by now, let alone daffodils budded and Iris reticulata blooming away. We're having average March temperatures, so no wonder Clematis armandii has been fooled into blooming. I picked my first sprig on the last day of January....the narcissus in the photo are forced, the sweetly fragrant clematis just picked, its flowers open nearly two months ahead of normal bloom time...
Take a look at what really gives me hope for spring - lambs in the Langley pastures already. We better hope we don't have terrible cold that'll harm these babies, born just last week....
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