After a warmer than average week in which records were broken, plants are responding. These red maple buds (Acer rubrum) were in the process of opening when I went to see them, and I knew that by the way the bud scales were no longer tightly clasping the buds. Sap flow to the buds causes them to swell up and this forces the bud scales open. It’s a beautiful thing if you happen to be a lover of spring.
Box elder buds (Acer negundo) on the other hand, showed little signs of movement. They usually open a week or so after red maples, so I wasn’t surprised.
This particular box elder still had seeds from last year. They are bigger than the seeds of other trees in the maple family and a single tree can produce many thousands of them.
The alder catkin (Alnus incana) over on the right looked like it was showing a little green. That’s what they do before they start to open; become multi-colored for a short time.
I went to see if I could find some female American hazelnut catkins (Corylus americana) again but all I saw were last year’s hazelnuts.
Big, shiny, and sometimes sticky poplar buds have released their fuzzy catkins. At this stage they resemble willow catkins somewhat but they will stay gray and will lengthen to sometimes 5 or 6 inches. These bud scales were not sticky and that tells me this was a quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), because that is the only member of the poplar family with catkins like these that doesn’t have sticky bud scales. Balsam poplar catkins (Populus balsamifera) look much the same but their brown bud scales are very sticky to the touch.
The willows (Salix) are now fully out and just about to flower.
If you look closely at a willow catkin and blow gently on the gray hairs you can see the structure of the flowers inside. I’d guess, depending on the weather, that these will be flowering next weekend.
Most of the snow has melted now and it has all run into the Ashuelot River. The forecast for the coming week is for more average temps in the 40s F., so any further melting will be gentle. There is still ice on the trails but it won’t be there for much longer.
The tiny white flowers of what I think are hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) have opened. These flowers are so tiny you could hide this entire bouquet behind a pea. I spent a while on my knees and elbows with my nose almost in the dirt getting this shot.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw buds on these daffodils. They must be an early variety.
Hyacinths are budded up and ready to go.
Tulips are gathering sunshine with their leaves but I haven’t seen any buds yet.
I did see crocus buds, and this one was very beautiful. It will open pure white inside.
There were also crocus flowers.
Lots of crocus flowers.
Johnny jump ups were adding their special sweetness to spring.
They’re such pretty little things. It’s no wonder some call them “heart’s ease”. Kneeling there beside them certainly did my heart good.
And I finally saw a reticulated iris blossom. They’re late this year; they usually blossom about a week before the crocuses do. I’ve even taken photos of them covered in snow.
As I thought they would be the spring blooming witch hazels were in nearly full bloom. I wish you could smell them. Their fragrance can be detected a block away and it’s wonderful. Someone once described them as smelling like clean laundry that had just been taken off the line but it’s a little spicier than that, I think.
In any event they’re a beautiful thing to find on a blustery March day.
I thought I’d give you a bee’s eye view, even though it may not be bees that pollinate these flowers. Owlet moths pollinate fall blooming witch hazels.
This one was over the top. With its long, bright yellow petals it was just a joy to see.
Witch hazel is one of only a handful of plants that have flowers, buds and seed pods all showing at the same time. In fact the name Hamamelis comes from the Greek words “hama” which means “at same time” and “mêlon”, meaning “fruit”.
I checked a flower bed the day before and saw three yellow crocus buds. On this day I found many clusters just like this one. Hundreds of blossoms had appeared in less than 24 hours. When spring is determined to happen It can happen quickly.
And spring will be beautiful; we can always count on that.
It’s spring fever, that’s what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want — oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain
Thanks for coming by.
Welcome to spring 🌹
Thanks!
THANK YOU very much for this introduction to Spring .. that extra warmth and Mother Nature starts to awaken her treasures,
You’re welcome Krys. Yes, and things are awakening. I saw the first dandelion blooming today!
I am caught up again. Thank you for this beautiful virtual walk through your area! Nice to see the snow retreating and signs of spring everywhere in your area. Daffodils and related early bloomers have been at it for over a month here now. Some trees are flowering, not mine, though, not yet.
Thank you Lavinia. You’re lucky to have trees blooming already. They’re always a joy to see in spring!
It looks like Spring has arrived in New Hampshire! So many pretty flowers. We did see a spring blooming Witch Hazel but didn’t think to smell it. We also saw one Harbinger of Spring, one bittercress, and of course Skunk Cabbage.
Thanks for posting. 🙂
You’re welcome Chris. I wish we had harbinger of spring but I’ve never seen one.
It’s so nice to be talking about spring again!
It is amazing what a little spring warmth and sunshine can do. I loved seeing all the crocus and witch hazel blooms – so bright and cheerful!
Thank you Clare, it happened fast! I hope spring is in full swing there as well.
It is! It is a slower spring than we’ve had for a while with a lot of rain and persistent NE winds.
It sounds just like what we’re having here. We still have snow here and there that hasn’t melted.
Ahhhh, so nice to see not only buds but flowers. The crocuses are always a pleasure and the violas a delight. I think a pic or two of Allen “at work photographing nature” would be quite fine to see (but not necessarily with mud on your nose, lol). I have three pots of violas by the front door that wintered over nicely and are blooming their hearts out. Now if the darned squirrels would just quit digging them up…
I don’t know if you’ll ever see that one Ginny!
Squirrels love to dig in pots for some reason. I once worked for people who had a formal dining room that I filled with houseplants and once, the day before a dinner party, a squirrel came down the chimney and dug in all the houseplant pots. I got an emergency call and found a real mess. But no squirrel!
Maybe yours will move on too.
I am pleased to see that spring is well on the way for you. You and your camera did a good job on the hairy bittercress flowers. We need an assistant photographer so we can get a picture of you with your nose in the mud!
Thank you but that’s a shot I hope will never appear here!
Most refreshing and inspiring!
Thank you Allie!
I learn so much from each of yur posts, they are so fun! The photos are exceptional. We all live among such beauty, if we only took the time to look.
I lover all those close ups you take of the buds and flowers, so much easier to see the detail than with my naked eye. Thank you very much for giving me such a lot of pleasure.
Thank you. It’s amazing what beautiful details there are to be seen in things when you look closely.