then and now

That was 10 days ago. It was the third snowfall in two weeks.

This is now:

The bloodroot is up.

And it's cashmere combing time.

'Tis the season of Everything Suddenly and All At Once, and time is getting away from me on a daily basis. But tonight I was determined to at least post a few snaps and say hello before falling asleep.

Hello!

~~~~~

the real thing

Between drizzling mizzling rains today, I paddled out and got a few pictures of Pulmonaria for you. These pictures accurately show how the colors pop up through the fallen leaves of last Autumn.

The largest leaves are red oak, which gives you an idea of the size of the plants.

And in this picture, you can see deep pink buds, and several flowers in the process of turning from pink to blue. This isn't the exact stem I painted, but it could have been.

I hadn't seen this plant until a kind gardener in town gave me some from her own garden. It was long past blooming, and when it came up the following year I did not know what it was, so the flowers were a big surprise. I posted a picture here on the blog  and several readers identified it for me.

Rereading that old blog post tonight also confirmed my feeling the bloodroot is usually up first.

Speaking of which, here is the bloodroot today: all tucked in against the cold.

Plants are simply amazing, aren't they?

~~~~~

no turning back

Yesterday, a cluster of delicate bloodroot buds - which I've been admiring daily - 

opened!

The sky was overcast and rain soon began to fall, continuing all afternoon and right through the night. It was still raining when I got up this morning, and although it has now stopped, the sky is a heavy, dark grey.

But no matter.

The bloodroot is blooming.

That's it.

It's Spring!

Let's dive in.

~~~~~

Sanguinaria canadensis

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

To me, this wildflower truly marks a turning point.

Yes, we may get more snow.

Yes, I was still burning wood around the clock until two days ago.

(And I considered lighting a fire last night. And the night before.)

But in my mind, there is no turning back now.

As of Wednesday, when the first bloodroot appeared

like magic - as it always does -

it is Spring.

~~~~~