Strong winds and persistent rain blast across the kitchen garden. I have my head down against its force and all I can see is wet, heavy, sodden soil in every bed. It takes all my strength to open a little gate against this angry, howling south- westerly, but once through I look up and my heart leaps with joy at the sight of the Witch Hazel in full bloom!
Flowering before even the snowdrops’ petals unfurl, this amazing shrub with its magical properties (carry a sprig with you to help mend a broken heart or use it to make a spell to remove difficult obstacles from your life), its spidery flowers and its spicy fragrance always takes me by surprise. It brings with it the hope of better weather, of sunshine and the welcome return of happy gardening days.
Dartmoor Flower Shed 
Lovely photo, hoping its magical properties will bring us better weather ..soon!
Thank you. I think it is time I placed a small piece in my pocket to see if it really works!
Witch Hazel is such a nice winter surprise here in The South!
So you have it there too? It did not flower here until January.
Yes, here in North Carolina (South East USA) they begin flowering in January and May flower through March depending on the variety.
I am just about to publish a post thanking everyone for the amazing interest I had in my blog thanks to it being reblogged by 2me4art. Please look out for it. I am so pleased and grateful that the interest came when it did- I was just about to give up!
Flowers of Frienship
You are a human magnet
and you are constantly attracting to you
people whose characters harmonize with your own.
by Leroy Brownlow
Hi Karen,
Remember Spring is around the bend. It’s yawning and slowly awakening from it’s peacful sleep. Spring whispers to you from your garden that life is full of new possibilities.
Honey
I love your little gift ‘Flowers of Friendship’, it is so, so lovely. I know exactly what you mean about Spring, I too can just hear it whispering to me. How lucky we are to have found each others blog and gardening friendship. Karen