Winter 2024: Signs of Spring

The first of the Writer's Workshop Prompts for January 18, 2024 fit in perfectly with a post I was planning for this week!  

These are the prompts for the Writer’s Workshop this Thursday, January 18.

1. Write a post inspired by the word season.

2. Write a post in exactly 7 sentences.

3. Share something that made you laugh this week.

4. Tell us about your best friend from the old neighborhood.

5. If you had snow this week, share some pictures of your “winter wonderland.”

6. Close your eyes, open a dictionary, and point to a word. Does your word mean anything special to you?

#2 was an almost do, but yesterday's post was eight sentences!  I can tell you what made me laugh this week (#3), Task Master Champion of Champions 3.  No snow this week, thank goodness.  #4, ehh... rather not go there.  #6 goes by the assumption I have a physical dictionary!  I used to.  I guess I could have just asked the Internet to pick a random word.  Maybe I'll use that for a poetry prompt.  Save it for April.  

So, season. It's well into the winter season, however there are definite signs of spring in the garden.  

The black cumin self-seeded months ago, and has grown despite the below freezing temperatures.   It's recommended the seeds be sown after the last hard frost, but my plants don't know that.

Dependable ditch lilies.  These are actual ditch lilies, the original orange daylilies that grow on roadsides and in ditches.  Invasively in some locations.  I actually mail ordered mine!  

Drumstick allium from bulbs a friend gave me.  

Flowering quince is nicely budded up.   This was one of the plants I wanted to grow when I moved here.  I was pleased to discover it was already here, in several places!

Frost peach grown from a pit.  Last year it had about three flowers, this year looks like a lot more to come.   I didn't let any stay to form fruit, the tree is very small yet.

Bearded iris.  There are so many in the front yard I neglected to trim back in August and are now a mess. 

Oh, dear... some kind of bulbs I bought at the Dollar Tree back in the fall.  Purple flowers. 

Purple tansy self-seeded in the compost pile.  It volunteered there last year from the previous year's discarded plants.  Purple tansy is a bumblebee favorite.

Violas self-seeded as well. 

Then, there's the Pluot Flavor Supreme.  Every year I think will be its last.  It's a sick tree.  As long as it flowers it can stay.   It might be nice if it fruited as well, or course!  Last year the fruit all shriveled on the tree or dropped off.  Fruit trees are so much trouble. 

So, there is hope the winter will end!