Crocus (above) in bloom in the Scree Garden adjacent to LongHouse.  While many bloom in shades of purple and white, there are some other varieties that bloom yellow like Crocus flavus 'Golden Yellow' (below) along the Golden Path.

Erica is the botanical name for winter-blooming heaths, still putting on a good show near the house and in the Sand Dunes. 

Vinca minor is a wonderfully utilitarian groundcover with it's shiny evergreen foliage.  Here you can it's early spring flower and where it gets it's common name of periwinkle.

LongHouse Reserve has a tremendous collection of Helleborus, commonly called Lenten rose or winter rose.  Many bloom in shades of white, pink, and maroon, like the one above in the Kreye Canyon.  Below is 'Onyx Odyssey', a new addition to the Turnaround in 2015.

Galanthus are a kind of spring flowering bulb commonly called snowdrops.  There are a few species that bloom in New York in late winter.  Botanists decipher one species from another by the subtle green markings on the otherwise white petals.

There are other "minor bulbs" even shorter than the snowdrops, like Scilla and Puschkinia that bloom late winter to early spring.  Only a couple inches tall, these bulbs are great planted en masse.

The earliest Iris that bloom are these precious dwarf Iris reticulata, which only grow to 4-6" tall.

Along the Golden Path at LongHouse Reserve is our collection of Hamamelis, or witchhazel.  A mix of native and Asian species, this collection begins blooming around Thanksgiving and provides fabulous flower all through the winter months to spring.  Below is Hamamelis x intermedia 'Barmstedt Gold', an extremely fragrant variety that is a cross of Japanese and Chinese witchhazel species.

And yes, even the first of the many thousand daffodils that grace the LongHouse Reserve grounds are beginning to open.  What a spring it is going to be!