Eranthis hyemalis
There is something special about the first flowers of spring. I suppose that the farther north you are (or at least the harsher and longer your winters are, which isn’t exactly the same thing), the more this is true. I know when we lived in Juneau, we looked forward to the greening of the woods. It’s perhaps a little surprising that in an evergreen forest, the summer is still a lot greener than the winter, but there are more than just the trees, of course. It’s the little things. In Juneau the spring came a lot later than we were used to but when it came, it came with a vengeance.
I’ve posted pictures of snow drops a few times already, and those were the first blooms in the yard. The Lenten rose, which is usually in bloom by now, has been covered by the snow too much to grow, so that won’t happen for a while yet. I was happily surprised when I got home this evening to have this little yellow flower looking up at me from the garden next to the driveway. Eranthis hyemalis, otherwise known as winter aconite, is a little plant and we only get a few flowers each year. In time, this little patch will spread and thicken and we could have a nice drift of them, but it takes time (like most things that are worthwhile). In the meantime, I’ll enjoy them in ones and twos. Happy flower.
