It's Spring!

 

It's the first day of meteorological spring. 

Here are some signs I've seen in the last week. Crocus! 
 

And snowdrops or Candlemas bells. 

And vernal witch hazel. 

Click to enlarge.  

It's nice to see colors again, right?  

And hopefully we've had the last of this for a while. 

Snowdrops

Snowdrops are blooming! I saw the first signs yesterday, just the tips of green spears pushing up. I took the photos in this blog this morning. You can see white petals. These flowers are also called Candlemas Bells because they traditionally bloom in time for the Christian feast of Candlemas on February 2. They made it just in time this year. Click to enlarge.

How do they do it? They have strong leaf tips that can push up through frozen soil and snow. They produce proteins that act like biological antifreeze to keep their sap from freezing. They reproduce asexually from bulbs growing underground. Later in the season, their flowers also can be pollinated by insects and produce seeds.

It's nice to have flowers again. Even if I almost froze looking for them. As the poet Charles Algernon Swinburne said, "blossom by blossom, the spring begins."

Snowdrops are Blooming

 

Snowdrops are blooming in my neighborhood again. They are, as usual, the first flowers of the year. Click to enlarge.

It's not easy for a flower to bloom here in January. Snowdrops have strong leaf tips that let them push up through frozen soil and snow. They produce proteins that act like biological antifreeze to keep their sap from freezing.

They usually reproduce asexually from bulbs dividing underground. Too cold for bees? No problem. Although later in snowdrop season I usually do see insects around them.

Snowdrops are also called Candlemas bells for blooming around the time of the Christian feast of Candlemas on February 2nd. This year, again, they are on schedule. We are sure to have more cold weather. But if the snowdrops are here -- can spring be far away?