Is it that time of year already?

It seems it was only last week that I was talking about the late summer flowering echeverias. Looking around not only are the winter flowers still going but the first of the spring ones are starting as well.  Ok so not really the spring flowers but echeveria rosea which flowers winter/spring.  I rave about this plant, if you do not own it go and buy it is all I can say. For once it is actually one that is better if you have a proper winter.  Currently the plant looks like this:

The flowers are just starting to form  and the leaves are starting to take on a slight red tinge. This is where the cold comes in,  if it is left out in the cold it turns red and will develop to look like this in a month or so:

I have been developing a clump in my dry bed and last year they coloured up nicely despite the bad winter.

I am hoping that this year with the lack of snow, which did set them back last year, and them having settled in even more that the display with be something special.  I want a large clump which all reach the final flower to look like this:

Mind you, it is still only January and our coldest month is usually February, so who knows what this winter actually has in store for us.  In some respect the lack of cold is almost more nerve-racking than having cold.  I keep think it can't be this mild can it? So to take my mind off it I will continue to picture who good my spring echeveria flowers are going to be.