It's finally starting to warm up here in New York, but it was still a little chilly when I went out a couple of weeks ago to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with Carly Larsson, Evan Turk, and Siyeon Lee. We still managed to find *something* in bloom: crocuses!

They're supposed to be the first flowers to poke their buds up out of the cold, cold ground in early spring and there they were! There was even a bee rooting around in one of them, picking up as much pollen as he could. Go little bee! Pollinate!!

I'm sure it was pretty hilarious to see three illustrators (before Siyeon joined us) clustered around the little spot where the crocuses were blooming.

We headed to the Japanese garden next. While it's too early for cherry blossoms, the Japanese understand the beauty of evergreens, bare branches, and the texture of rocks.

I have it on good authority from a friend studying horticulture that spring is going to hit fast and hard in the next week or two. She claimed everything would shoot out into bloom! Be ready, she said. I am!