Back in July, I posted photos of our new plantings at St. Aidan's - and I noted that the Hellebor plant would eventually have purple flowers.....Well, here they are!  I know I've written it before, but it is STILL amazing to me to have flowers in California when so many parts of the country have freezing weather.  I am also so happy that our ferns, which have been struggling, look great all of a sudden.  So ---- to friends in the cold parts of the US - sending photos of little purple flowers and ferns making their way into our world...

This morning, my husband Page and I were talking about the fact that while our gardens aren't covered with snow, not much is growing at this time of year.  We talked about how much we were looking forward to February - the month in which we can again plant potatoes, chard, kale, etc.  And then later in the morning, I joined my friend Kris to garden at the St. Mark's Church garden.  I was surprised to see how that garden was so healthily blooming!  Kris planted cilantro, we admired the Christmas cactus, we spotted new growth on the fruit trees, we marveled at how well the parsley is doing, we smiled at the succulents, and we spotted new blooms on the iris plants.  So - here's to January and a new year of gardening --- a year of garden surprises, of creation blooming when we least expect it, and of friendship all around us.