Aaaack!!!

 

 It begins!

Twenty Degrees!

 

But I still have some snow! Want some?  There's a nice big pile of it where Mr. SnowBlowerMan throws the snow from three different directions so it becomes a dense icy pile and never melts until about the time farmers are taking off their first hay crop. If you want some, just come on over. Bring Scotch.

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Snowdrops are out - actually, I tell a lie, they've been out for a week already. This is Galanthus morrowii, a larger-leaved species, but just as charming as the more common G. elwesii.

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Dirca palustris, aka Wicopy, aaka Leatherwood, aaaka quite the earliest shrub to flower at my place. In fact, just about the first flower, period. The blooms are small, only about an inch long, but the black furry buds are cute. Kind of like my cats' black furry butts, but a lot smaller!

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I was delighted to find four separate clusters of purple Crocuses in a small bit of open woodland behind my Rockery. I planted 100 crocus bulbs in 2019, and had one flower. I figured the squirrels had gotten them, but it appears they missed a few!

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A miniature daffodil called Tete-a-tete. First, earliest, smallest, cutest, most invasive daff in the garden. I rarely see a seedpod yet Tete-a-tete seeds itself around. Adorable in a small wineglass. Wine is even better, but if you're out, these tiny perky blossoms will make you feel better. If you have wine, pour yourself a glass and go sit in the sun beside these little charmers and enjoy both. When your glass is empty, pick some daffs and put them in the glass.

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A False Morel, a tiny one, but it will get bigger, and there will be more of them. Seems too early for mushrooms, but these show up in a certain spot every Spring. Totally inedible, but they do signal that the True Morel might be up as well. I searched where there were some last year, but didn't see any. True Morels are scarce, False Morels not so much.

There's a moral there, somewhere. 

 

Happy Spring!