Candlemas Blooms

Last week was Candlemas, the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Here in Vancouver we have been seeing our first spring blossoms, their shy pastel blooms asserting themselves from the dark winter mulch. Today I saw the first violet of spring and the first open yellow crocus. As I did my shopping for dinner the twilight lingered on much later than it has for a long time. These rosy hues are good for the soul. This year I have been celebrating the first blooms of heather, so ubiquitous here they become invisible after a while.

We've started to put in our seed orders and I've been doing more research on which herbs are good for attracting bees. I found a good document on the Richter's web site which is a fabulous resource for ordering herb seeds and plants. I'm looking forward to making some new herbal tisanes this year from our garden.