These are always the very first blooms, popping up in the center of the front bed, under the shelter of the winterberry trees. I found them there this morning.
Interestingly, I posted the first pictures of this clump in bloom last year on Feb. 17, same date as this year! They did not appear until March 8 the year before, and March 5th in 2009. A pretty good indicator of the timing of the seasons.
AFTERNOON UPDATE: Photo above taken midmorning, cloudy. Here's some more, with the afternoon sun on them.
