early, at the break of dawn, walked out to get paper. a bit of a breeze but oh!, such a mild and comfortable morning - even though we are in early february it felt like spring here in the foothills of western north carolina  almost had the smell of spring  later in the afternoon i was cleaning and filling the birdbath with fresh water  and it happened  i made my first lap around the potager  looking for signs of spring  i know it is early but i could not resist  so much fun and i could sense the comfort and quite that this little garden give without reservation - now the question - when will the iris in the potager began to come to life and show signs of spring growth