Signs of Spring
February 3, 2010 by Waverly Fitzgerald
Filed under SIGNS OF THE SEASON
Click on the comments to see all the great submissions from readers on 3/15/2010.
From Ginny Lang, Bellingham, WA
Last week I was walking Coco, our enthusiastic German Shorthair Pointer, and she was enjoying the smells in our neighborhood, wagging and wiggling as she nosed the ferns and ground cover and watched, very carefully, the fat robins in the yards. I’m never quite sure who is the walker and who is the walkee, but I’m pretty sure Coco knows. We live in the hills above Bellingham, WA and Lake Whatcom so it’s about 8 to 10 degrees cooler up here than in town down by the Bay. There, we’re seeing daffodils and forsythia in full bloom – earlier than usual – and the cherry blossoms are glorious already. Up here, the forsythia is just beginning to show yellow flowers and I’ve noticed little red buds on the salmon berry trees. The tulips are showing their tips above the ground and it looks like they will bloom well before their usual April arrival.
As we walked, I began to hear a racket. This wasn’t a scolding squirrel, circling crow or an airplane over the lake…it sounded like metal on metal, and it was close. Coco heard it too, and we headed back toward our house and the unusual sound.
There on the dead end sign was a woodpecker, pecking for all he was worth on the bottom corner of the sign. Trying to attract the ladies, I’d suspect. I laughed and got out the camera. Coco pointed. All sorts of puns, practically limericks, come to mind about this fellow’s effort to attract a mate: his big….sound…. ringing through the woods, the age old woodpecker equivalent to a dating site. He’s been back, so I guess he’s checking to see if there have been any responses to his posting.
From Jane Grant in Baltimore, Maryland.
A photo from a hike in the woods along the Gunpowder River in central Maryland on January 18, 2010. In my zone, Skunk Cabbage is due to appear in February, but I found these a bit earlier, poking up through the leaf litter in the otherwise brown, bare woods. A beautiful sign of Spring!
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Greetings Waverly and Ladies:
I have been in Florida for the Winter. Mother Nature is offering her Autumnal Mood the past few weeks with crinkling dried up leaves on the big old southerns in my neighbourhood. Teeny tiny birdies chirping each morning like a symphony of women gathering has been the sole sign of Spring around the corner. The Winter has been confusing here in Florida as it has across the world, so my cues for Spring have been handed to me from my friends who live across my Home and Native Land of Canada.
Talking to a friend at home in British Columbia Canada yesterday, she told me the daffodils have been up for one month already.
B. C. is our pride and joy in Canada, of Gaia’s handiwork.
I live in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and a friend last week sent a photo of each egg layed by her chickens ( each named after an herb ) .The ‘girls’ as we refer to them, live in a chicken coop she built by hand this past Winter.
Across the country in Southern Ontario where I grew up, a childhood friend whom I spoke with yesterday said it is now a race to see who can get their boat out on Lake Erie the fastest now.
These are surely signs of the time of spurting and sprouting to me, even if I am not in those locales dear to my heart.
Back here in Floirda, the baby geckos have been out off and on for the past few weeks, hoping between my front yard and my neighbours. I have not seen more than one at a time – yet – but am holding out hope. The relief of seeing the teeny tiny fellows hoping around tells me the frigid cold of Old Man Winter is no longer at Florida’s door.
The usual flowers are not starting to bloom yet . We can see the sky now because the leaves have fallen. The piece de resistances is – that catch it if you can for a moment scent of Spring is in the air when I walk out the door. This weekend I have made a point of walking out to sweep away the dried up leaves. Bees are abundant and have been around my bushes for the past few weeks .
I cannot say we have this smell whereever I have lived in Canada, likely due to that extra hint of coolness in the air – and early morning frost if not snow – in March. In Canada, a slight half hour more of sun, getting ever so closer to our hearts centre as Summer approaches is more of a dream than a reality , for most of the country. I cannot quite put my finger on the mix of florals I can smell . It is a treat and blessing to actually smell Spring and know it is not going to snow next week. I don’t have to hold my breathe, hoping and wishing for no snow.
On that note, this past week has been the opener for March break and the kids are out in full force on the beaches locally. Playing volleyball and hula hooping , yes hula hooping in their skimpy beachwear catching the rays in between a week of heavy rains. Now, that, in any part of North America tells us it is Spring – kids , rain, sun , ……. hope of a new season of birthing!
Blessings, Bonnie
These burgeoning signs of spring encourage dreams of possibility. Each one looks as if it holds something magical, unseen, just ready to be revealed. Indeed, each one does!
Signs of Spring
A hint of greenness grows more noticable, day to day, here in the St.
Lawrence River Valley.
Warm weather birds are returning.
Here in north Florida, where spring is very late to arrive, the little “Irish Bells” have finally bloomed They which usually bloom in January. They are such a sweet little flower, a Florida version of Lily of the Valley. The bulbs were a gift and I’m not even sure thats the correct name- I am hesitant to find out as I love that name!
When the groundhog walked out on February 2 she declared six more weeks of winter. Throughout those weeks snow piled up and the pond out back remained frozen. At six weeks minus two days the pond edges thawed, geese, mallards, and the great blue heron returned. The ice continued to melt. At six weeks plus one day the remaining ice sunk into the pond. Fish could be seen jumping into the air while the song of the peeping peepers strenghtens in voice each evening. When twenty great blue herons flew together, circling low above my head, weaving in and out, their usual harsh gutteral call mellowed with trills and swoops of sounds I had never before heard, I knew we were blessed with this years arrival of spring.
Two things this week that lit my heart up with recognition that spring is FINALLY here (in the Piedmont of North Carolina). The first was a light, warm spring rain–such a contrast from the heavy cold rain of winter. And the second was my first glimpse of a patch of tiny purple wildflowers. Nothing says spring to me like little purple flowers.
SIGN OF SPRING ON THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
Spring is arriving late here in North Carolina, where we have had snow on the ground since the Solstice. This has been the consistently coldest winter I have ever remembered, though I am trusting that all this dormancy is going to produce a glorious (even if delayed) Spring Bloom. So it was such a welcome sight to finally have our Canadian Geese arrive on the pond this Saturday, March 13. That is almost a full month later than last year when I actually got to watch them come in for their first landing on February 15. However this year that pond had been frozen until a week ago.
Every year the same couple, whom my husband has deemed “Fred and Ethel”, return to nest on the small island we have in the middle of our acre pond. We know they are the same ones because initially they were quite shy about eating the homemade daily bread I would take to the pond for them, but now upon arriving they come up to the front door and honk! By the end of Spring last year I actually had the parents eating from my hand, before they and their five children flew off the first week of June, which was the longest they’d ever stayed in the three years since we’ve been here.
In Western New York the three feet of snow are finally starting to melt and the birds are singing.
I would love one of Bill Felker’s almanacs!
I saw our first crocus start blooming Saturday. Sunday it was buried in snow! I love spring in Colorado…
The first sign of spring here in Toronto is always crocus shoots. I was really surprised to see some last Wednesday and worried they’d be battered with one more snow but maybe not! I would be thrilled if, in fact, spring was here.
(PS I followed the link for the giveaway and landed here, so I hope I’m in the right spot)
Birds wake me singing in the morning and the red wing black birds have returned!
An acquaintance says they have been here a couple of weeks, along the nearby Mohawk River, but they have moved back into my neighborhood and I awake to their songs each morning!
Springtime has arrived in central Texas as can be seen in the many trees are budding and flowers are nodding their tiny heads on the breeze. But I too am concerned about my clutter and resolve that this week while on Spring Break, I will make huge inroads in eliminating the clutter in the garage.
Here on the Gulf Coast, we expect dazzling explosions of floral color — thousands of sprawling azaleas — to announce spring every year. But this year’s bitter winter has delayed the buds’ opening, so our landscape is strangely austere… even though the days have warmed. So we wait hungrily for our riot of springtime color. The pleasures of anticipation!
Would love to enter your almanac giveaway, if possible. Happy Spring!
Signs of spring? Daffodils, daffodils, daffodils. It’s yellow all over northern California this year which is very cheerful, even in the rain.
Here in California, central coast, Santa Cruz, on the very edge of the U.S. the mock pear and plum and acacias are blooming, big trees with yellow flowers. One day it rains and the winds blow like March winds. The next it’s sunny yet cold. The sky is brilliant, orange and pink and lavandar. Everything’s in waiting for spring. Risa
Signs of Spring: The weather is getting warmer, the temperature will jump from mid-60’s yesterday to the mid 70’s today. It is time to sit out by the pool. Yesterday’s swim was brisk; today’s will be better!
I am seeing signs of spring in the subtle greening of the grass and the brighter greening of the moss. The leaves of the daffodils and crocuses have poked through the still-cold ground and the buds of the forsythia are just waiting to open. The real harbinger of spring for me, however, is the drumming of our Northern Flicker. Early every spring around dawn, he pecks at the metal flashing on our chimney creating a most impressive racket. Our flicker is our spring alarm!
In Southeastern Ohio we are finally seeing some signs of spring…the crocuses are up in our yard, there was chickweed poking up through the leaf litter during our walk in the woods. AH and FROGS!!! peepers, and maybe green frogs? the peepers ring through the neighborhood, from a creek down the hill…
i was inspired to post b/c i just read your newsletter with the giveaway of
Bill Felker’s almanac – hoping this is the right place to be entered, but if not, it was nice to be reminded of this page (and the skunk cabbage, which i haven’t seen since leaving the NW for some reason!).
SIGNS OF SPRING:
here are 2 sure-fire ways we know it’s Springtine here in NE Georgia:
1) The daffodils are blooming a sunny yellow. What a cheerful sign!
2) The “endangered species” vultures have finally migrated north out of our back woods.
Spring seems to have sprung with particular haste this year. Here in the South, things have been rainy and cold for a long period. However, in the past two weeks things have budded, and nearly leafed out in some cases. Thank goodness for it. It all looks so promising. Spring is a wonderful mood boost.
I love Skunk Cabbage — it reminds me of my childhood growing up on a river. Now, as an adult, my first signs of Spring are worm castings!
I am still looking for buds on trees and things poking up out of the ground but to no avail. However, I do feel quite hopeful as the weather has been lovely and mild and rainy over the last few days and I do believe we’re in for a week of sunshine and temperatures in the mid-teens (celsius, of course). I’m sure I’ll have something to report on as early as next week!
In Cambridge, MA this week the snow has turned to rain – we’ve had three days of it…falling down, blowing sideways, dripping constantly. But it is good for us all, plants and humans alike. I’ve noticed the first red buds of the maples have appeared, seemingly overnight, and the sweet crocus have popped their heads up. There’s also stands of snow-drops here and there, and other bulbs – hyacinths and tulips – have shyly been showing their leaves. We are starved for greenness here! I look forward to what the next few weeks bring…
Sign of spring here on the coast for me is the wild iris popping up amongst the rocks on the bluffs.
Spring came to Oregon early this year as we had a mild February. For me, the first signs were the green of the leaves of the Indian Plum spotted in the woods. Also, it is always a sure sign of spring when the Stinging Nettles poke their purple-green bodies out of the ground. When I see the nettles I always think about what a relief it must have been for people who could only eat what the earth gave them to have fresh greens again.
“Pink Rain” is still several months away in my part of the world — Rochester, NY on the shores of Lake Ontario.
All of our recent 21 inches of snow have finally washed away in this past weekend’s rain. How exciting to discover patches of snowdrops finally peaking their heads above ground. My winter pansies survived and have buds but no flowers yet. And those ancient plants, primrose, as popping up in lovey shades of spring green.
It is all so exciting.
Signs of Spring:
I love to see all the changes in the natural world, but this year for some reason, the signs of spring that I noticed were from my observations of human activity.
Here in the Northeast, we still have plenty of snow in some places, but last week I noticed a man working in his front yard chipping away at his big snowbank and throwing smaller piles of snow into the road. We Northeasters often do this to hasten the melting. My thought on observing this was “now there is an optimistic” who obviuosly thinks that we are done with the snow for this year!
The other thing that I noticed was that the street sweepers were out last week. Sweeping up all of the accumulated sand and dirt from a winter’s worth of road sanding. This certainly is in keeping with the “Spring Cleaning” theme.
Cathy
Here in hill towns near Albany NY, we still have almost a foot of snow on the ground. We’ve seen robins and finches all winter long, but the sight of the first red-winged blackbird means that Spring can’t be too far away!
Signs of Spring
Quince in bloom – those beautiful coral flowers in manicured hedges; poking out of bramble patches; climbing trees. I have radar for quince in all its many guises.
There is a saying where I live near Denver CO; if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. This statement especially rings true in the transitional seasons like Spring and Autumn. The signs of Spring approaching here are early mornings when the earth is frosted with a dusting of snow, like powdered sugar on a cake. By late morning, that powdery snow has transformed under the sun’s power into puddles and mud. Especially up in the Rocky Mountains just above where I live, Spring is often referred to as ‘mud season’. All that mud and lovely moisture generated by snow melt nourishes the newly emerging little green shoots of plant life that stubbornly ignore the daily cycles of snow, heat, and cold. As the Vernal Equinox quickly approaches, I am inspired to pay attention to my own cycles of growth, activity and rest, that I may seek to balance the energetic surge of solar activity with my snowy patience. May all find balance within and without on the Vernal Equinox.
Spring has been glorious here in Southern California. We have had a lot of rain and the back country is GREEN–like it is only a few times a decade. In my yard, a few bulbs have even peeked out–I didn’t know they were still alive! abd my sweet peas are up after only a week in the ground–further more, sweet peas overwintered!( I know it doesn’t sound possible, but it did happen) and are about to bloom! The daffodils and jonquils are long since past, but the freesias are blooming strongly. In the desert the wild flowers are spectacular, except that mustard, that ubiquitous plant, has invaded and is choking out the sand verbena and desert lilies! This is a widespread problem. I have a favorite patch of lupines, verbena and lilies that I weed every time I go out to Borrego Springs, but looking at the vast expanses of mustard is daunting–they have bloomed and gone to seed by now, but haven’t released the seed yet as of 3-15-10.
Signs of spring? We are all still waiting out here on the east coast. Although the sap is running, it has turned cold again and we have a prediction of snow in the weather foecast. Next week it is suppose to warm back up. The bulb show at Smith College is the closest thing I’ve seen with beautiful sring colors and a fragrance to match.
Debbie
Cummington, MA
The way the line of trees on Knott Street “pink” up into blocks and blocks of profusion. Or the small green ear sized leaves on the Lilac. I know it won’t frost now.
I’m 30 miles east of Seattle nestled in the foot of the Snoqualmies. I look up and see snow on the peaks. I look straight ahead and see flowering quince, an unattractive plant most of the year, but in its glory now, beckoning spring to really arrive. I look down and see baby snails, already proliferating, one of the complications of a mild winter. All of these reminders that what might be this time of year are parts of what is.
My sign of Spring is the meadowlarks return to the yard-can’t get a photo, but I can hear her!
I have never seen skunk cabbage before but that is indeed a beautiful sign of spring! I am in the process of planning my Ostara celebration as well.
The days are silver with rain: the air, the pools of water on the strets and lawns, the sky. I am waiting for the silver of pussywillow catkins, but they ahve not emerged as yet. After the coldest winter in years, spring is late. The red maples have not spread their spring fire, forsythia holds it sunny buds tight, yet here and there across my lawn rising from brown, curled oak leaves are crocus. On the edge of the front yard’s rise live a colony of pale lavendar flowers. Purple and white arise from the rock garden, and willy-nilly all over there are tiny, artic subspecies crocus in stained-glass violet. The marshmallows are beginning to surface their leathery green heart-shaped leaves, so perhaps spring will arrive after all. Better late than never.
I know its Spring in Ashland OR when the trees and the bulbs blossom and there is snow in the foothills. Spring and Winter always collaborate beautifully in our town.
This is in response to your request for signs of spring. Check out my blog http://kate-stockman.blogspot.com/ to see some of the signs of spring I posted this week from the mountains of western North Carolina. Our spring is (obviously) much slower in arrival than yours… but then, we’ve had a lot of snow and frigid weather this winter.
Peace AND Prosperity,
Kate
Crocuses have started blooming in Chicago this past week – it makes me very happy! There were snowdrops first, at the beginning of March – I actually saw them for once this year. Also, the moss is greening up. I heard that was actually the earliest sign of spring, but I saw the snowdrops first. And we had our first thunderstorm on the 11th.
In southcentral Alaska, we are still in the midst of winter. But the buds on the cottonwood are thickening and a pruned branch will leaf-out if put in a vase of water indoors. Most spring-like of all, on Friday, I heard a robin singing a spring song and sun now shines in my western windows!!
Our Spring signs in the DC area have been building over the last couple of weeks in the joyful courtship sounds of birds. At last, yesterday, I noticed three trees full of yellow blossoms and in the evening, I heard two flocks of geese, calling as they flew invisibly above the cloud cover.
The picture of the Skunk Cabbage got me thinking about my dogs’ behavior this spring. Smell is a big part of dog owning, and I notice that the dogs are bringing in a pungent smell of spring. They are indulging in mud eating at the dog parks, and lapping up muddy puddles by the quart. So now we are treated to not just the moldy, decaying, rich organic smell of dried mud in their paws as we methodically wipe them, but in their noses and mouths. Why, why, I ask? They refuse to answer. Spring mystery.
Here in Milwaukee, it feels very urban and I long for the country. There are usually huge piles of snow and when they start to melt, that is a sign that spring is coming.Everything gets very muddy, but, you start to see the green
in the grass coming up through what looks withered and decayed and flattened
from all the snow lying on top of it. Then, if you look harder, you start to
see little crocuses just starting to pierce the earth. This is what I wait for
each spring. It is a very gradual change. I begin to long for the promise
of spring to be fulfilled. Soon, it will be there. There will be flowers and buds all over!
Great photos! So pretty how the green life comes out of the surrounding brown leaves…its own protective mulch.
I was told my husband and daughter today that the daffodils are several inches high — here in Wisconsin where the snow just melted a couple days ago. I’d love to receive a copy of Bill’s almanac — and Waverly, thank you for always including not only your own seasonal wisdom but resources to other’s wisdom as well!
love and light
Shannon
Dear Ariana,
Thanks so much for sending your signs of Spring in Chicago. I hadn’t thought about the moss, but I did notice it seemed more brilliantly green. I love hearing about the thunderstorms too. One of my fondest memories from my one visit to Chicago (in summer!)
Alas, there were over 50 contributions to the Signs of Spring in the first day (you can see all of them on the web site) and yours was not one of the first three and not eligible for the free almanac
If you are really interested in Bill’s almanac, I recommend purchasing a copy directly from him.
Blessings of spring,
Waverly Fitzgerald
Living in Season
http://www.livinginseason.com
Dear Teresa,
Love your posting on the mystery of dogs and mud in spring.
waverly
Dear Waverly,
Gosh, I hope it’s not too late to plant sweet peas! I usually have mine started in pots indoors by now but for unknown reasons I’ve procrastinated this year. Your concern spurred me into action though, and I planted seeds of April in Paris and Jewels of Albion yesterday, both outdoors and in pots on my verandah, where they’ll get morning sun. As with you, mine are a tradition. As the first great-grandchild, I was the apple of my great-grandfather’s eye. His favorite flower was sweetpeas (I’ve read they were extremely popular nationwide at that time). The family story is that my great-grandmother was in the garden picking sweetpeas when Papa died peacefully, in his bed, one day in May 1950. So I grow them for him, and for the pleasure they give me. I feel so fortunate to have started life in a four-generation family matrix.
This is a rich edition of Living in Season; it will take me a while to digest it all. Thanks so much. It’s a blessing to all of us.
Here in Asheville, NC I am noticing more bird song, 3 yellow crocuses in the woods, a purple-pink tinge to trees and shrubs (the life force is rising!), and buds on the early flowering trees. Also as I walk around my garden, I see lemon balm, nettle, catnip, spearmint, yarrow and elecampagne beginning to poke their sweet green faces up…and loads of chickweed!