Heart of a Snowdrop

Yesterday's (15 February 2017) high of 16.4 C in Calgary broke a century-old record, beating the previous mark of 15.6 C set in 1916. Our crazy weather! Just the other week, we had windchills as cold as -34C. The last few days have been so mild and wonderful, and the snow is rapidly melting. Makes a wet mess on the roads and you can only drive for a few seconds before the car windows are filthy again. Now if only all the snow and ice could disappear before our next snowfall, it would be worthwhile washing the car.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-weather-record-hig...

It's 11:30 am and there are only six new photos showing from my Contacts! Are there really so few people posting on Flickr today (and recently), or is it yet another Flickr glitch?

This is a photo from my archives, taken on 6 April 2016 at the Reader Rock Garden. It is always such a delight to see these early spring flowers blooming after seven long winter months of snow and ice on the ground. Each year I go the Garden, I only find one plant of these dainty flowers and it is difficult to get a photo of just one single flower. This time, I managed to get the beautiful green heart shape.

On this day, I wanted to see what flowers had started to grow already, as plants in general were blooming early last year, thanks to the mild weather. The main flowers were all the Hepatica, varying slightly in colour with some paler and others darker. There were also scattered tiny Squill flowers and this single Snowdrop plant growing in its usual spot. Funny how this plant hasn't spread anywhere else, at least not that I could find. I haven't been to the Garden since around May 2016 and this winter has been brutal compared to last winter. I must try and get over there this spring.