By Elizabeth Jardina, Sunset researcher

Our damp February weather here at the Sunset offices is brightened considerably by spring's earliest bloomers.

Rain and gray skies? Who cares about them when you have the intoxicating fragrance of winter daphne?

Daphne odora `Aureo marginata'

Daphne odora also has one of my favorite Western Garden Book entries of all time:

"So prized for its pervasive floral perfume that it continues to be widely planted despite its unpredictable behavior — it can die despite the most attentive care, or flourish with little attention until you invite all your gardening friends over to admire it, at which point it promptly succumbs without warning, just to show you who's in charge."

If that doesn't make you fall in love, what could?

And if that wasn't enough, get a gander at these marvelous 'Replete' daffodils. They don't have any fragrance, but their peaches-and-cream ruffles are enough to make any day feel like sunshine.