The first blossom of 2004

Well, the first blossom was a snowdrop, but it wasn’t any of the snowdrops I’ve been checking on regularly. It was a clump of double snowdrops given to me by my garden buddy Bub, which I had planted near my Cornus alternifolia ‘Argentea’ (now deceased) and had forgotten about. This bed is located in the southwesternmost corner of our property, and I can’t say I had ever thought of it as particularly precocious, horticulturally speaking. Maybe that’s why the pagoda dogwood died: got awakened early from dormancy and then zapped by a killer freeze. I am still debating whether to spend another thirty-five bucks to replace it.
These snowdrops are growing through a groundcover of ajuga. Sorry about the photo being so dark. Daylight was fading when I discovered my prize.