Here is another harbinger of spring. The Phactors have many dozens of bulbs in our gardens, many of them varieties of Narcissus, and most of these are fairly good at needing fairly little attention. Some have the yellow perianth and corona that we would call "daffodils", but others are more exotic with orange colored flower parts that are not necessarily in evenly spaced whorls.
Nothing quite says spring more than crocus. They just barely peak above ground and up shoots a flower. For whatever reason the earliest crocus are always gold colored. This makes them extra showy, except bees can't see this color like they can the white, striped, or lavender colored flowers. This clump of volunteers decided to grow under European beech tree. It's a nice contrast the splash of color among the leaves and against the bark. It flowered earlier than the FFF snow trillium but it isn't a native wild flower.
Spring has sprung but winter isn't over yet. Signs of spring: earliet bulbs in flower like snow drops and winter aconite open in sunny places, mallard ducks return to lily pond like clock work (Mar 1st), and of course the FFF in flower, two varieties of witch hazel, Arnold's promise and DIane (orange-reddish frs). Very, very cheerful.
