Years ago, I had lots of spring color, many summer delights and even fall flowers, but the colder months produced very little of interest. Hardwood trees and deciduous plants had lost leaves and looked very stark and naked. Even the grass was dingy and lack luster after November. Do I even need to mention the arrival of January’s north winds and damp cold days? Everything was brown and barren.

Before I honed my gardening skills, I had made an acquaintance with a sweet lady named Martha who introduced me to a wide variety of plants. In January, she had at her home an interesting but prickly shrub covered with reddish coral blossoms that caught my attention.