When winter comes, can spring be far behind?
Stopping to smell the flowers

Arlene Marturano is a master gardener, writer, and educator. As an advocate of gardening as a tool for learning, she helped develop the Carolina Children's Garden at the Sandhill Research and Education Center. She is an education consultant with T.E.A.C.H. marturano@yahoo.com

Arlene Marturano

Columbia gardens are never at a loss for flowers in winter. However, something seems different this year. After only a month of winter, why are we seeing flocks of migrating robins feeding on lawns, hearing birds singing their hearts out as if in courtship, and watching spring flora flower in early winter? Are we experiencing a premature spring or an unrelenting summer?

The confluence of winter and spring flowers makes for an unusual overlay of colorful plants and a blurring of the boundaries of the seasons.

To witness the January jambalaya for yourself, take a walk in your neighborhood, to local parks and college campuses, and at the Riverbanks Botanical Garden.