The Flowering and the Budding

It's theoretically spring here in the Boston area after a particularly brutal winter of bleak frostiness.  So there is hope, even if the temperature is only in the 50s (F) or about 10-13 deg. C.  Semi-brrrrrr weather in the morning.

We're a couple of weeks late this year, but finally trees are flowering and budding.  The Flowering and the Budding are micro-seasons within the Spring, that precede the Leafing Out.

The beauty of spring is before our eyes, even if the air temperature isn't reinforcing our sensory perception.  But with the cool temperatures, it's hard to get into my "I'm in love with spring!" mood.

But if I get out on my bicycle and ride for 3 or 4 miles, I warm up enough to sort of enjoy the sights.  And the brightness of forsythia flowers translates into happy feelings within me.  

Here's a smattering of the signs of hope in our fair city of Cambridge (and one across the river in Brighton).

Blue flowering groundcover brightens the brown litter of leaves from last fall.

I love the contrast of the pink flowers against the blue sky.

While flowering tree towering over an historic property, just off Tory Row (aka, Brattle Street).

The Budding, a week or two before the Leafing Out, differs in timing depending on species and microclimate, where warmer and more sheltered locations leading the trend.  By mid-May, the Leafing Out will be complete.

The Budding on a privet hedge.

One view outside Cambridge shows the Budding of brush and trees on the banks of a small channel off the Charles River in Brighton.

The Hope of Spring

This has been a particularly brutal winter.  Not so much was it the greater than normal snowfall, but the bitter, bitter cold that numbed the hands, even with gloves on.  It was both discouraging and certainly depressing.

So, with March comes the mini-season of "Hope of Spring."  Sometimes we see something budding, such as the first signs of our jonquils budding in the front planter, which gets the afternoon sun.

The first hope for spring in the garden:  the jonquils are budding!

Later on a walk to Harvard Square to get a few gifts for the little girl I babysit (Naomi), I ran into a couple staring at the snow drops emerging from the dirt and leaf litter, just off the brick sidewalk.

Left:  tiny snow drops emerge from the cold ground on a sunny March afternoon.
Right:  crocuses emerge from the leaf litter in a Cambridge garden.

It's March and the March flowers (jonquils) are slowly reaching up for the sunshine.

Almost there:  the jonquils just need one warm sunny day to convince them to open their yellow flower and smile as the sun.  Yes, the Hope of Spring has come!

The Almost Spring

Spring officially begins with the equinox on March 21st. But in New England, winter is still roaring, its cold winds blowing over snow-covered fields and around the urban canyons, as the people scurry about clad in parkas, scarves and wool hats.

But sometimes in late March, or at least in early April, the season of “Almost Spring” arrives. There are the first signs of live re-emerging from the barren brown earth.

This is one of my favorite moments of the year. The potential energy of nature is at its greatest. It’s as though everything is almost ready to bloom, but instead nature carefully tests the air. A few crocuses emerge, flowering close to the brown soil finally feeling the distinctive warmth of a spring sun. Stronger in intensity than the winter sun, the radiant warmth is lost in the chilled air, trying but not yet succeeding in escaping winter’s grasp.

The trees bud, but are not ready to leaf out. This is the shy half of spring.

Come the second half of April, the shyness passes. All manner of trees and flowering shrubs and spring flowers burst forth. Before May Day, the trees will be fully leafed out.

But, these first weeks of April are when we can take hope from all the potential of beauty that surrounds us. Life is rebirth in spring, for nature, and for me.

Below: The crocuses, first flowers of spring, stay low to the otherwise barren earth. A warm day may be followed by a snowy day, in the Amost Spring.
Below: In a classic rural farmland vista 35 miles north of Boston, the brown fields are finally visible after months of dormancy under its white winter blanket. No color is visible in the Almost Spring.
Below: The plump red buds of the maple tree in front of my home, in contrast the the bright blue sky of the Amost Spring.
Below: Green buds on the sapling in the foreground and the yellow buds of the great willow in the background. We are only a week or so from everthing leafing out.

The Coming of My Favorite Season

Ah, spring is finally here! For me, spring is the season of hope. The season of potential. Little green buds emerge from the ground, and weeks later, grow into the first flowers of the year. The landscape is still mostly brown and gray of the winter groundcover. Yet these first flowers inspire hope.

It reminds me of looking at my babies when they were new to this world. They were a bundle of potential -- what would they become? What would they be like?

So, too with the first buds of spring: what wonderful flowers will bloom? And what will this new year be for all of us? Here is a sampling showing the coming of spring here in the city. (Some other photos are included in my Other Thoughts blog: "Almost Spring!" and "A Beautiful Day in March.")

Below left: The happy faces of my daffodils blooming in the sunshine of a warm 1st day of spring. Below right: some crocuses blooming in the yard next door.

Below: My jonquils (march flowers) a few days before they bloomed.


Below (4 photos): Sampling of crocuses popping up all over Cambridge.





Below: The buds in the trees foretell leafing out in April.


Below: After 4 days of warm weather, the yellow forsythia blooms are showing. We call this lot the "forest." In the city, even a 1/2 acre that is not developed is like a 100-acre forest to us urbanites.


Below: The warm weather brings every one out from their winter hibernation. Left: The first day of spring and temperature is in the 70s (over 20 deg C) and the banks of the Charles are littered with sunbathers. Note the leafless trees. Right: Another sign of spring: music in the park! On my lunch stroll through Boston's Public Garden, a jazz trio is playing.

Below: On a warm day in March brings out a couple of rowers (see lower left) on the Charles River where Harvard University lines both banks.

Below: A warm last day of winter and I'm riding my bike home from work when I stopped along the Charles River Esplanade to get a backlit photograph of a footbridge. (My favorite picture of this footbridge is bathed in the pink light of sunset -- see my post "Sunset Along the Charles River")

Below: I came home late to find my jonquils blooming. Here is a flash lit night photo of them.

Gardens of Boston and Cambridge

As much as I love gardening, I love admiring the work of other gardeners. From spring to fall, I'm looking for interesting displays or just creative angles on the familiar. During our brief summer this year, I always had my phone's camera at the ready to capture the blossoms that attracted my glances.

We start out with some views from spring around Cambridge.

Flowers of summer

Horticultural displays in Boston's Public Garden. I'm so fortunate to work near the Public Garden, allowing me to take strolls at lunchtime or after work.

Summer flowers in Cambridge gardens taken on my strolls around the city.