To get in the mood for Spring, I plan to visit some of the local botanical gardens, conservatories, nurseries, etc., to find growing, blooming, springing things. Once the pre-Spring season has passed, I'll move these images along to their permanent homes.

DISCLAIMER: I won't be able to identify all (or even most) of the plants pictured, although I do try to photograph ID tags in situ, when they are present, and pass that info along. Your help in identifying plants, or correcting errors in my identifications, would be much appreciated. I make no claim about the correctness of the tags placed next to the plants, and I especially make no claim about my correctly associating such tags with a particular plant in the vicinities of the tags.

I urge you to view the pictures in as large a size as your monitor will handle comfortably, since plants exhibit the most amazing levels of intricate detail. It's a whole "secret" world, waiting to be explored. Enjoy!

Finally, thanks to Carol, Tim, Mike, and all the rest of you whose earlier postings of hothouse flowers in conservatories and elsewhere kick-started this impulse to get out there and find something bright and beautiful.