Spring Has Sprung

tanjabrittonwriter 71 Comments

At 6,000 feet, spring takes its sweet time arriving, and night frosts threaten to damage or destroy early bloomers until the middle of May. Most years, the flowers in our garden are tempted by warm March sunshine, only to be covered by April snowfall.

We have been making an effort to replace water-guzzling lawn with more drought-resistant native wildflowers and shrubs little by little, but my nostalgia for the traditional European spring blossoms of my childhood compelled me to plant bulbs of crocus, daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths a few years ago. Even though the more untamed beauty of the former holds a greater appeal, I still admire the more kempt lineaments of the latter.

I learned by experience that our roaming herds of mule deer like the taste of tender tulip chalices, so those hardly ever survive long enough to allow me to immortalize them “on film” once their petals unfurl. And while the grazing ungulates shirk the blooms of the other flowers, their pristine petals frequently find a precipitate end nonetheless because they can’t withstand the vagaries of spring at the foot of the Rockies.

Lacking power to persuade our precocious plants to practice patience, I enjoy their cheering color and company whenever they make an appearance and however long they last. Furthermore, it is gratifying to see that precocious insects, who also couldn’t resist the early spring wake-up call, enjoy the blossoms’ presence and offerings on an even more essential level by sipping their life-sustaining nectar.

Welcome spring, my favorite season. Thank you for all your beautiful gifts.

To enlarge a photo, click on it. To read its caption, hover the cursor over it.

Crocus/Krokus
Crocus/Krokus
Crocus/Krokus
Daffodil/Osterglocke oder Narzisse
Hyazinth/Hyazinthe

71 thoughts on “Spring Has Sprung”

      • This year, many things are different anyway and some of them come later…I would like to see a new breed in blue-yellow, which should remind us of Ukraine, because by now it is beyond thought why something like this happens again in Europe in our time, although it seemed to have been overcome. Greetings from North Frisia…

        Liked by 1 person

      • Maybe some plant breeder will succeed in breeding a blue-yellow flower that will serve to honor all the people who are losing their homes and lives. And ideally serve as a reminder never to have another war. But that’s probably a pipe dream.
        Hoping for peace!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. The flowering of spring bulbs always raises my spirits. My favourite is the daffodil, although I think I prefer the single colour (bright yellow) varieties to the bi-coloured forms that you feature here. Ours are just beginning to fade, so I’m envious that for you the season is still underway. Enjoy them while you can! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I also love daffodils. We have some of the one-tone yellow varieties you mentioned, but they are in the shade of some tall trees and bloom a little later, so that they weren’t ready for this post. It is nice to see a progression of flowers, but I’m afraid the coming week’s cold weather might make it challenging for some of the bulbs to survive.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. Your phrase “kempt lineaments” seems unique: Google returns no hit for “kempt lineament.” Nor does Rhyme Zone find a rhyme for lineament (except an obsolete compound of the same word). I’ll take a stab:

    To understand the fancy English lineament
    It helps to know what the Latin noun linea meant.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Such beautiful flowers, Tanja! You are blessed to have a garden filled with such allure. I would love to see more pictures of the garden – especially now, with the fresh, delicate, vibrant hues of spring!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you, Narendra. The appearance of the first tender bulbs followed by colorful flowers is highly anticipated each year. It will be another month or so before the next crop unfolds its blossoms but I already look forward to it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. Spring must be extra special after long cold winter. I enjoyed your photos and your writing. I guess the more precocious the spring blooms the more precarious they are likely to be. So its important to enjoy them while they are there and as signs of more beauty to come.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. Schön, daß der Frühling jetzt da ist und daß du deine Frühblüher genießen kannst! Sie sind eine Augenweide 🙂 Wenn ich es richtig verstehe, kommen die Zwiebelpflanzen mit der Trockenheit gut klar? Weitere schöne Tage und ich wünsche uns beiden nur dezente Nachtfröste bis Mitte Mai 🙂 LG Almuth

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dankeschön, liebe Almuth. Die Farben und Formen machen Freude.
      Ich weiß nicht, wie es den Zwiebeln ohne Hilfe gehen würde, denn ich gieße die Beete, wo ich sie gepflanzt habe, regelmäßig. Ganz ohne Wasser hätten sie es, glaube ich, schwer.
      Hoffentlich erfüllt sich unser beiderseitiger Wunsch nach nur dezenten Frösten!
      Alles Gute,
      Tanja

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Ich habe kürzlich auch mal meinen Patenbaum gegossen. Die Perlhyazinthen und die Scilla wuchsen, aber sie waren winzig. Jetzt nach dem Regen scheinen sie größer zu werden. Kann aber auch Zufall gewesen sein. Naja, bei euch wars ja noch länger trocken, da ist das bestimmt nötig. Schön, jetzt noch mal Krokusse zu sehen 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  18. Always cheery to see those bulbs popping up in the spring. I LOVE tulips, but have given up on them in the yard, because they only last a year or two, at best. However, the daffodils seem to expand each year, so I’ve settled on those and hyacinth, which also seems extremely hardy. Happy Spring!
    Best,
    Julie

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Happy spring to you also, Julie. I haven’t noticed that the daffodils expand on their own each year, but they are welcome to multiply as much as they like. The various shades of yellow bring such cheer after mostly drab winter colors.
      In our part of the world, we are hoping for some much-needed spring moisture to really get spring going.
      Best,
      Tanja

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  19. My only stab at planting tulips here in Oregon (quite a few years ago) ended much as you mentioned. The deer nibbled them all away. The daffodils survived. A friend suggested that they were toxic to deer. (and likely to others as well!) I also remember winters in the Sierras and then Utah when the sight of the tulips and daffodils (especially the crocuses) was such a thrill after a seemingly endless winter. Enjoy the best season of the year!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • It strikes me that the German for daffodil is quite similar to ‘narcisas’ as in Latvian.
      And oh! that Kingfisher looking out over those snowcapped mountains. Lovely!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • It would be much easier if more plants’ common names were identical with their genus names, which is the case for daffodils, who belong to the genus is Narcissus.
        And thank you for noticing the kingfisher. I was very happy when that photo turned out. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Can’t help but wonder if perhaps the scientists who do the ‘naming’ do it to confuse us slackers. 😉
        Couldn’t help but notice the kingfisher… ours down by the creek are extremely elusive. I am envious.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Maybe they didn’t think that any non-scientists would ever have a desire to understand their language.
        Our kingfishers are fairly elusive, too, and won’t tolerate much closeness, so thank goodness for telephoto lenses!

        Like

    • Thank you, Gunta.
      A quick online search revealed that deer don’t like the milky sap in daffodils, but actual toxicity wasn’t mentioned. Many of the plants that are labeled “deer resistant” don’t necessarily know that fact. Or maybe it’s the deer who aren’t well informed. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

      • All I can say is our deer back then nipped off every last flower of the tulip variety while leaving every last daffie… on the other hand I can most certainly vouch for the fact that deer simply LOVE roses!!! 😉 🥴

        Liked by 1 person

  21. How fabulous to open your post and be greeted by all of that spectacular color!

    Spring is so special! Not only for it’s metaphorical “renewal”, but for the “actual” renewal of our natural world. We have been having a blast discovering blooming flowers of all sizes, new growth on trees and all the bugs, birds and animals which rely on all that new life.

    Thank you for sharing your bloomin’ “blumen”!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. Awesome collection of spring beauty, Tanja. We are just seeing the beginning of ours. Mostly our daffodils are putting up their leaves, some tipped with hints of yellow, but most else is a bit behind still.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’m glad you enjoyed our spring flowers, Steve. I always thought our spring was slower in getting started than the East Coast’s, but stand corrected. And considering that Boston is at about 42 degrees N and we are nearer 39, that really shouldn’t come as a surprise.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  24. None of these flowers is common here, except in grocery store pots or bouquets, so it’s wonderful to see yours. I can grow nostalgic for the tulips and such that were a part of my life in Iowa, but every place has its beauties, so I’ll enjoy your traditional spring flowers as a little ‘plus’ to accompany ours.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • These traditional flowers are only common where gardeners plant their bulbs in the fall, but from what I can see across the area, there are many. Most other flowers in the garden are wildflowers and they won’t be in bloom for several weeks if not months, so it’s nice to get some early color and cheer.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • I keep forgetting to tell you that I spotted a new ‘little library’ in a nearby town recently. I know it’s been put up in only the past few weeks, as I go down the road regularly. I thought of your post when I saw it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  25. Tanja, you got lovely colourful spring. It is so much joy to keep watching these delicate beauties from the day the bud starts taking shape.
    Here our road sides are full with Cherry Blossoms spreading its beauty!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.