WINTER BEAUTY

This February 8th, I drove over to the Southern Oregon Coast for the day. I visited the towns of Brookings and Gold Beach. While in Brookings I stopped at a rest area and noticed this flower near the sidewalk. I was surprised to see this beauty in bloom early in February. We live inland from the coast and our climate is a lot different and nothing blooms that early. I have no idea what kind of flower this is so if you do, let us know. The flower was on a stem nearly two feet high and the individual bloom was an inch and a half in diameter.