Happy 280th Birthday, Mr. Washington!

We sent our East Coast correspondent / tech guru, Jon Tashman, to take a walk around the grounds of Mount Vernon on a drizzly February day to see what it would have felt like to be George on his birthday.

Front of the house

Sheep grazing

Virtual Bouquet

Forget the red roses!  These are just a few plants that ignite passion around our office (and are a little less thirsty).  They are great alternatives to the traditional red and pink flowering garden plants of February (Cammelias, Bergenia, Purple leaf plums and Indian Hawthorne - you know who you are).

1. Malus 'Dorsett Golden' - a low-chill Apple
2. Ribes 'Barrie Coate' , Chaparral Currant - happy in sun or full shade
3. Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon - the reason the hills above LA are called Hollywood.
4. Grevillea 'Canberra' (aka 'Pink Pearl') - beautiful bank cover
5. Cercis occidentalis, Western Redbud - great deciduous small-scale tree
6. Ribes glutinosum 'Claremont' - Yes, another Currant.  6't x 6'w, Summer deciduous.

Happy Valentine's Day!