Well the dryness of the air Wed. night, even though it got down into mid twenties,
must have saved the blossoms on the saucer maqnolia, camellias, and other plants from
turning into brown. Thank God for small things.
One of the first things I did this morning was to take a stroll in the garden. I was on the lookout for frozen camellia blossoms and frozen saucer magnolia blossoms.
Although it went down into the mid twenties, everything looked fine. Perhaps it was
so little moisture in the air.
Anyway, once I get home this afternoon, I intend to take further strolls in the garden. Hopefully the blossoms will be pink, rose, red, vermillion, and not black.
In spite of two years of summer draught and almost endless hours spent with hose in hand, I greatly desire to plant more new plants. There are so many plants, so little time and space. It's hard to imagine weeks of 100 degree weather with abundant humidity. Last year I think we had 13 days in a row of 100 degree temperatures.
And despite that I lost a 
fetterbush and a 
Red Star Chaemacyparis, I plan to plant new ones, plus things I have never tried - like having a palm tree in the black belt,
a 
cabbage palm. I think there use to be one in our town, but I haven't seen it lately. Was it my imagination?
My Saucer Magnolia, I thought was safe for a few days. But if the weatherman is right
- either it gets zapped tonight or tomorrow night. Everything gets excited during the
Indian summers, and then an artic chill knocks them down.
Not only do I have many blooming things to look forward to - there are some things I
wish I could put off another 6 months. The oil must be changed in the push lawnmower
and the riding lawnmower. All 800 trees and shrubs need fertilizing, plus all the
bulbs that have made for a glorius spring, need a few shots of bulb food.
Yesterday I picked up pine cones. What a pain. However so many great plants like growing under pine trees.
Well we have gotten five inches of rain this week in our garden. I guess the lettuce
and broccoli are enjoying it as well as all the other plants. I hope this summer we will get as much rain as we have gotten in February.
The nearness of spring is in the air. It seems as if you can smell it - what with
all the jonquils, oriental magnolias, flowering quince, and spireas blooming, etc.
My 
rosemary is beginning to bloom for the first time.
March, year before last, my mother and I visited the Alabama Shakespeare Festival
Theater and gardens, which is part of the Winton Blount Cultural Park. In the
Bard's Garden there were hedges of rosemary with their exquisite blue blooms. And to be sure, the smell is divine.
Each year it seems to be getting more dangerous to live in the southland. It's not even tornado season, and there have been so many. Prattville, a town just outside
of Montgomery,Al. was the scene of much devastation this Sunday. It was truly a miracle that no one was killed as in Tennesee a few weeks ago.
Our family doctor's front yard has a beautiful 
saucer magnolia that was in full bloom
last week when a hard freeze came. It now looks dreadful. Thank God, our saucer magnolia in the woodland garden fared much better. Only a few blooms were frozen. Hopefully when more blooms open, they will not be frozen. The fragrance is as wonderful as the huge blooms.
The farmers co-op had no butter crunch lettuce. I had to settle for an iceberg lettuce. I guess I
will have to continue my search. Also I couldn't resist buying some strawberry plants to plant
in the vegetable garden, really a mixed garden. You can plant the repeat blooming strawberries
in zone 8 in February.
Have you heard all the buzz about green tea and it's health benefits. Green tea is harvested from 
Camellia sinensis, which means Chinese Camellia. Also black tea and oolong tea is also made from the same plant. You can grow this camellia in the milder parts of the U.S. - to
zone 8. If you live in a colder climate you can grow on a balcony or patio and bring inside when it freezes, or grow in your green house. You should wait until plant is 3 years old before harvesting the leaves for tea.
I must stop at the local Farmer's co-op and buy some broccoli plant and butter crunch lettuce.
Butter crunch lettuce is divine. I don't know anything about the cultivar except that it is
wonderful to eat.
My camellia, 
'Lady Claire' , a japonica usually begins blooming in early Fall. With the exception of one bloom around New Year's day, it waited until February this year. I wonder if the recent drought had anything to do with it. For we have had two summers of drought.
Spring is in the air. Not only can you smell the fragrance of the winter honeysuckle,also known as 'Kiss Me At The Gate" you can also admire the blossoms of the winter jasmine, the berries of 
possumhaw, a blackbelt native, and the other hollies plus nandinas. In our woodland garden, the smell of the old-timey 
jonquils and the saucer magnolia is heavenly, and as an added bonus a feast for the eyes.
