When I read Alisa’s latest post announcing “Winter” as her weekly travel theme I knew I wanted to wait until December 21st and take a photo of the first day of winter. December 20th brought our first snowfall of the year but we were still officially in Fall so I waited… Of course today has been a very stereotypical winter day here in the Pacific Northwest with thick cloud cover, light rain and very little daylight. The snow is gone and I was left without a clear winter-like image for this post.
Finally I decided look for one of our winter blooming Sarcococca hoping to find some early flowers. If you look closely at the center of this photo you might be able to see the tiny white buds beginning to form surrounded by the larger berries. In a few weeks this shrub will produce a beautiful scent and if the weather permits we will be outside to enjoy it.
Posted as part of Alisa’s Weekly Travel Theme: Winter
Northwest Frame of Mind 
Great shot and the nice thing is that this is the shortest day of the year and from now on the days start getting longer.
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I’ve been telling myself that all day. 🙂
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Sarcococca is a beautiful shrub. It’s good to appreciate the winter garden, special in its own right. Happy Winter Solstice!
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Thanks D’Arcy, I definitely appreciate our Sarcococca and love how easily it grows in shade. Happy Winter Solstice to you too!
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I see the buds! Lovely post and Happy Winter! It was 63 in PA today!
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Omg, I am so jealous! We might have hit 43 degrees… I’m glad you could see the buds!
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I love the scent of this plant.
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I do too :). It’s so welcome in the middle of winter.
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A winter blooming shrub, how nice!
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Yes, it blooms at the perfect time to remind us the season is turning. 🙂
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It’s wonderful to hit the lowest light of winter, knowing that now the light will grow…..even if it still gets colder. Lovely photo
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Thanks Seonaid, I agree my favorite part of the 21st is knowing we will be gaining a few more minutes of light each day. 🙂
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Love this lush feeling in the photo, its buds, berries and raindrops. I do not know this bush/tree at all, but would like to know more about it. I love the scent of flowers and it would be marvellous in the middle of December!
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I love how this plant grows so easily in low light conditions, never shows frost damage in winter and blooms every year. There are several different varieties and I’ll bet a few are perfect for your growing conditions! When it finishes blooming my Daphne is ready to flower so these two plants get me through the worst of our winter weather.
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I believe I have to go to the plant store this spring…
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so pretty and nice to see one that’s not white 🙂
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Thanks Mrs. C. 🙂
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Lovely green image for the challenge, Lisa. It’s very mild up here in New Jersey; a very pleasant surprise. 🙂
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I’m glad you like my green and am very happy to hear you have such nice weather!
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Capturing light on the shortest day of the year! Very cool, Lisa 🙂
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Thanks. 🙂 It was nice to see some light between the gray clouds and rain!
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