recession blooms, spring looms

The Asiatic hybrid lily did not come from my garden. It is probably from a greenhouse not too far up the road. I bought it from Whole Foods and plugged in some small pink camellia flowers from my back yard. It makes an economical Valentine’s Day bouquet: total price, less than $10.

I should have posted this crocus picture on Fat Tuesday since gold and purple are traditional colors for Mardi Gras …. The corms have come to life on a south-facing slope at Sarah Duke Gardens. Roaming visitors on a few warm days have recently trampled a good many blooms. Some Duke students even used their flattened half-case beer boxes to sled down this hill on Inauguration Day. That is okay, parks are to be enjoyed not just photographed…. and the crocuses will come back every year. We can’t say that about the snow.