A friend has a good hellebore collection in her charming garden. Even with the cold weather, they bloom so prettily in late winter and early spring.

Nodding hellebore blooms with purple veining and edges in a PNW sun break

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A friend’s garden has perfect purple crocuses in bloom. Finally, spring flowers are out there!

Brilliant orange centers on these purple and white crocus flowers

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Also called Japanese andromeda, pieris is a stellar shrub that thrives in the Pacific Northwest. And they are fragrant! Little bells of wonderfulness.

Pink pieris, backlit in the late winter sun

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This is what’s commonly called a Christmas cactus, but it’s really a Thanksgiving cactus, or schlumbergera truncata, not a regular cactus. This year, this one is acting more like a Valentine’s Day cactus! When growing them, treat them more like a regular houseplant and don’t let them get super dry, before you soak the soil.

Such showy, iridescent, magenta and white flowers, on this Thanksgiving cactus in bloom.

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Such a cute fish hook little cactus! Be careful, though. The white fluffy stuff is a kind of sunscreen and protects the cactus from wind and water evaporation, too.

Little pink flowers with yellow centers decorate this small fish hook cactus. Careful!

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He brought me roses. So very sweet, every single time.

Red, red roses

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A summer photo for you, in winter mode.

Simple June peony blossom

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A new kind of decor bulb for me, an amaryllis in a wax jacket, all ready to go. No planting, no watering, all inside the bulb! How magical is that? We chose a large bulb and were rewarded with two flower stems.

White amaryllis flowers bloom from a waxed bulb

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A Pacific Northwest winter scenic view, from a few years ago, taken a block from my house. You can see Vashon Island across the Puget Sound. Happy New Year to all!

Scenic sunset view of Puget Sound

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Happy New Year! My wish for you is finding beauty everywhere. May you have rainbows and sunshine always!

An unexpected rainbow from a window prism decorates the carpet on a recent sunny winter day

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No room this year for a regular Christmas tree, but it looks quite festive anyway, don’t you think?

Plants and presents around our ficus tree

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Tonight is the year’s longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. In Seattle, today was only eight hours long. But now the light returns! Today is Winter, but we move onwards every day towards the Equinox, and Spring.

The shortest day of the year means the darkest times are behind us.

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