A young stud eating Blush Pink Nandina

I don’t have horses anymore. So why are there three horses in my front yard? Oh, I recognize those horses. They belong next door in the pasture. Yippee! They’ve come for a visit. Who says I don’t have horses anymore?

But what to do with them? Don’t want anyone, or the horses, to get hurt. We did not know their owner’s phone number or even name, could not find where the horses had gotten through the fence, and even if we’d had halters and ropes, they were friendly horses but not handled much.

When the dears decided they liked my Blush Pink nandinas, which I have struggled to keep from dying through two dry years and which finally are beginning to grow, I said to husband: “Get the fence cutters. I’ll not have them eating my bushes.”

Handy husband cut the fence to make a gate, and two of the friendliest critters were easily lured with oats and hay (on hand for my chickens) back home to their pasture. The third, a mare, was skittish, but dear husband remembered how to herd a horse, and so all three returned where they belonged. Nandinas were saved, I had enjoyed petting horses, we’ve now gotten to know our neighbors better, and I’m left with a gate to get easily into the pasture for rich manure for my garden!

Star magnolia, blooming far too early in this unusually warm winter. I do hope they don’t bloom one at a time.

Paperwhites. The horses loved eating these. By the time spring gets here, will I have any at all?

And this lone purple bloom. This plant was given to me two years ago, chosen as a surprise by my then fou-year-old grandson. I’m sorry I don’t recall the name of the plant. I treasure it, and am faintly surprised, given my lackadaisical gardening skills, to find it keeps on living. And a jewel of a bloom far out of it’s season in mid-winter.

But is anything truly out of season? We only think it is. If we will let ourselves, we can bloom at any time.

My deep appreciation to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for beginning Garden Bloggers Bloom Day many years ago, and leading me to take a look at the bounty in my own yard month by month. If you pop over to her site, you’ll find links to gardeners around the world.

Blessings,
CurtissAnn