Ten Reasons to Love the Ozarks in the Early Spring

1. Harbinger of Spring

2. Toothwort

3. Redbud

4. Rue Anemone

5. Henbit

6.  Johnny-Jump-Up

7. Violet Wood Sorrel

8. Hickory

9. Dogwood

10. Bird's foot violet

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Weekly Top Shot

Macro Monday

Harbinger

Just when it seems like 

 the winter will never end--

up comes the crocus.

Linking with Weekly Top Shot

Harbinger of Spring

At my neighbor's house yesterday, when I had finally quit looking for one, I saw my first Harbinger of Spring of 2011.  I'm not referring here to harbingers in the general sense of the word, but to a tiny plant, the first wildflower I see every spring, the one labeled in the wildflower books by that name.  I looked for this flower early in the spring for years before I realized that the pictures in the books were magnified about 8 times and they had been right under my nose all along.  The flowers are quite diminutive; each petal about 1/16".  Their stems can grow to about 6 inches; the one pictured here is 3 inches tall.  

Hope of Spring

We've had an extra dose of winter this year, and people around here, myself included, are eager for any sign of spring.  The return of the red-winged blackbird is often a predictor of the season.  On most years, one day in the early spring, we'll hear a trill from the top of a tree, and see the flash of brilliant red wing patches against jet black feathers, and know that we'll be enjoying the company of the red-wing for several months.  Last week, when snow blanketed the ground and the lake still wore its icy fringe, there was one mingling with the local birds at the bird feeder, and eating sunflower seeds, just as if he belonged here.  They may be better weather predictors than the much touted groundhogs.  This week has been beautiful and mild, and it feels like spring is just over the next hill.

Bluebirds, too, are pointing toward spring.  They are the first birds to nest here each year, and last week they were out checking on the available birdhouses.  With those hopeful signs, I went looking this morning for a Harbinger of Spring, those tiny white wild flowers that are the first to bloom in the spring, and are ubiquitous throughout the season.  I didn't find one in any of the usual spots, but I did find a small patch of snow drops already up and blooming, their heads bowed in morning prayer.  The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote,

O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

If Percy had lived in the Ozarks, he might have added a corollary:

O Spring,

if Blackbirds come, can Harbingers be far behind?