Native Beauty

We've had a mild winter so far, with just a few snow days in mid-January. The reliable Red-Flowering Currant plants -- native to western US states and western Canada -- in our front garden already have bright pink tubular flowers and vivid green leaves (closer view in the extra photo). 

They're welcome sight for us -- and our local hummingbirds! Their flower clusters turn into blue-black berries in summer, enjoyed by birds.

As we move into March, it will be interesting to see if we get any more winter weather like the mid-January photos I posted. Global warming is real, and we'll have to let go of our usual expectations about what kind of weather we're likely to have in any given month.

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