Like so many February days on the West Coast, it’s grey & overcast.  C & I head out for a walk over Mt. Tolmie anyway.  A block or so along Henderson Road, we’re surprised by pink blossoms at the edge of the sidewalk.  February blooms on a rhododendron ???  Don’t they usually bloom in May?  What a treat.

It’s a big shrub, and it’s covered in buds & flowers!  This is not just a confused branch sending out an aberrant flower…  This must be the regular season for this species to bloom.  Sweet.

I take a photo, then we continue our walk.

But right next door is another blooming bush!    Well, I suppose this makes sense.  Who doesn’t yearn for the promise of spring at this time of year?   I’m guessing these neighbors share garden notes over the fence.

A couple more houses along the way… Another pink rhododendron.

Around the corner; another! 

Down the block: a 5th!

By this time we are sensing a trend.  C & I make bets on how many  pink rhodos we ‘ll find along our regular route.

The 6th discovery is down the next street.

Then it isn’t until after cresting Mt. Tolmie Park, and heading back home along the streets of the south-western slope, that we find more blooming evergreens.

One is behind a fence (beside a blooming forsythia!)

Two more grow in the garden of a fellow who’d moved into the neighborhood about the same time we had.

The last one has buds just starting to open.  It’s right in front of a pink tree. (Perhaps a Cherry?  or Plum?).

There might be other rhodos we missed, but I reckon 11 is a pretty good collection – – certainly more than either of us expected.   Perhaps we should start looking for an early rhododendron for our garden.  (Not just to make an even dozen. or keep up with the Jones’s, or build community, but for our good mental health.)

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