Following one's nose

This week's visit to the Toledo Botanical Gardens found the gardens much further advanced into spring than they were at this time last year; I doubt that anyone expected 75 degrees in Toledo in mid-March, but I'm not complaining. Many of the early-spring favorites were in full bloom:

like snowdrops

snow crocuses

        and iris versicolor.

Given my predeliction for wildflowers and the foolproof, some of the week's bloomers are plants I'd seen only in catalogs, things like cornelian cherry

and winter aconite (which I hope I've not mis-identified).

But the botanical highlight of the day was located by scent, not by sight. Wandering through the woodland garden, I literally followed my nose to identify the source of a new-to-me, wonderfully sweet scent. Eventually, the winding paths led me to a Chinese witch hazel.

 It doesn't look like much, but this plant may become one of my favorite signs of spring.