February views

So, here is the promised picture of the blooming Hellebore "Winter's Bliss."  It sits slightly under the large viburnum at the edge of the road, and you can see the remains of last year's long stems of the pink hibiscus in front of it.  This is a great place for a Hellebore, where it can jump out of the bare soil with leaves and flowers, but then retires back when the larger and more dramatic hibiscus upstages it. This is easily seen from the entrance of the labyrinth, and provides a pleasant welcome at a bleak time of year.  The other Hellebores are being much slower in blooming, but I will let you know when they come through.

There have been short periods of mild sunshine over the last week, allowing the occasional views like the ones below.  If you look carefully at the bottom edge of this first shot, you can see the yellow of Winter's Bliss glowing in the sun.

Here is where the seasonal change of zoysia grass into a soft tan color is really effective in my opinion.  This view just wouldn't be the same if the grass were solid green.  The more neutral soft tan color is so much more distinctive than green would be.  This is the view of people walking their dogs down the road or hiking into the county nature preserve, but don't tell the county that our neighbors regularly go in the nearby unofficial entrance. 

The last photo is just another 15 feet down the road.