Small Spring Wonders

We have had some really marvelous warm spring weather in the last week or two. Temperatures into the 70’s and light to steady breezes quickly melted the snow and out of the wet ground sprouted delightful tiny wildflowers. Lots of insects hatched attracting lots of birds and the honey bees have been busy on the willow catkins, gathering pollen for their hives. For nearly a week I’d go outside a couple times a day and search for my former nemesis wildflower – steershead or Dicentra uniflora – and I was delighted to find it. As the snow line descended down into our draw, I found more and more of tiny plants with flowers the size of a dime. How could they have been here all these years and I never saw them til last year. Were they tucked under the bitterbrush that burned in 2014? Or did the fire stimulate seeds that may have laid dormant?

Steershead leaves emerge as soon as the snow melts

Waterleaf leaves

Bright green moss

Larkspur leaves

Bitterroot leaves

The bitterroot leaves were waiting patiently under the snow

Delightful tiny leaves peaking out from under a rock

Lomatium geyerii, our first wildflower to bloom

Busy honeybee taking a break

Inside the house, the clivia is blooming. My aunt gave me this plant many years ago and now it’s been three years since she died. Where does the time go?