Photo: PK Read

I planted two witchhazel bushes in the garden last year so there would be spots of color against the snow.

It’s been nothing but grey, yet the red of the bushes stands out.

Another standout against the grey of this late winter weekend was my wonderful neighbor, a fourth generation gardener whose ancestors tended the gardens of the local château until that was sold. I saw him working in his garden – he was getting ready to prune his grape vines. He offered to come by afterwards and trim our single muscadet vine to save it from my clumsy clippers. Of course, there’s something in it for him, too – every year, he gets several kilos of some of finest grapes around from our garden. It’s a mystery, but our one rather old vine seems to be a very happy single dweller, producing around 30 kilos of grapes every year. Much of which goes to our neighbor. A nice gardening cycle.

Photo: PK Read

So even with gloomy skies above, it’s a lush life this weekend.