NOW on to new topics.

The feeling of spring has come early this year. Last year, I remember being able to feel winter in the air through March. Right now, we are in a fake spring - at least that's what we're telling ourselves.

So today, I drove to Palmetto, Georgia, to a nursery known as Wilkerson Mill Garden. This nursery carries many shrubs and trees, but its specialty is hydrangeas.

For me personally, hydrangeas are the south. It's odd to me to think of them existing on the new england coast. Or Oregon, for that matter. And yet they do. To me, they are inextricably bound to hot summer days, to shady corners of back yards where the lawn has been mowed. They go well with iced tea. They go well with bumble bees.

And today I met a nice couple with a passion for plants, and some really healthy plants. They had great advice. They had lots of information. And before I left, I had four of their babies in my car. How do you leave plants behind when they had names like Penny Mac, much less Frillibert?

Spring is in the air. Bring it on.

--Laura