I’m calling these The Greenhouse Days of winter, when you just crave something warm and green but there’s still so much cold and gray to get through (with another foot of snow expected tonight, sob). We took a trip to the big “orangerie” at the botanical garden here Sunday and it was glorious: the sun was shining through the glass, there were tropical plants everywhere, we could take our coats off.

Even outside, despite all the snow, is looking promising–this is the same magnolia tree I took a picture of a few weeks ago. Hang in there, little buds!