Stuff I Like: Crocuses, Forsythia and Phlox

I spied a rich purple carpet of crocuses this morning along my usual running route. I swear that it was not there yesterday. Glory be, spring has arrived! Or at least it is sending us a teaser in the form of brave little shoots sure to multiply by the day.

In truth, my favorite flowers are hydrangeas, and my yard is loaded with them at the height of summer. I love their big mophead poms, an intoxicating contradiction of sturdiness and delicacy. They grace the landscape along with all manner of showy flowers and shrubs as summer bursts forth with its audacious display of horticultural beauty.

But there is no time of year that begs for a glimpse color and new life like early spring. Although forsythia blooms predictably each year, as do the crocus and the phlox, their appearance always takes me by surprise. Particularly on years when they have to push their way through remnants of tired snow, they seem an improbable juxtaposition to the landscape, almost too good to be true.

This is why I have planted generous clumps of phlox that burst into a border of vibrant splotches. It is why I devote one afternoon each Fall to planting bulbs. The squirrels think that I am burying little presents just for them, so I never know what will emerge in the spring.  But for eyes that have become accustomed to the drab of a Midwest February and the slop of early March, there is no more gratifying sight than the burst of color and life they provide.

And before I know it, the days begin to lengthen, the breezes blow more gentle and fragrant, and neighbors I haven’t seen in months are coaxed out of their houses along with their dogs and strollers and bicycles and friendly waves.

I love the brave early bloomers of Spring.  And armed with the immediacy of my appreciation it is the perfect time to plan for an even showier next year!