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This past week we saw more signs of Spring. A few other trees showed interest in starting their spring growth by breaking open their buds, namely the stone fruits, peach and cherry. Hawthorns and dogwoods are also starting to open their buds.

Even though Spring is continuing on its march toward warmer weather, a dip in the jet stream is causing a bit of confusion.

We are in the midst of an historic April snow storm! Folks in the mountainous areas of New York and Pennsylvania are expecting a foot or more of the heavy white stuff.

Elsewhere, in the northeastern U.S. many people should be watching nearby creeks and streams for flooding. This storm is a really big one and has brought a couple inches of rain to quite a few major cities already and it’s only half over.

As the old saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers!”

North of the Catskill Mountains in eastern New York the Spring bulbs are awakening but not yet flowering. Crocuses, daffodils and tulips are coming out of the ground, but now have their greenery hidden under the snow.

Spring here has been rather tumultuous. The Snow Drops (Galanthus nivalis) have now experienced five different snow events. Usually a single snow fall will cover those cute little blooms and this year they are showing themselves to be quite hardy!

Yesterday, the hanging blossoms were opened wide after a couple days of snowy weather and now, again, they are closed and tucked under the snow.

My walk through the woods today was rather chilly, but not uncomfortably so as I was prepared by wearing long-johns and an earband.

I was looking for new sprouts and found several. Brambles and wild roses have started poking their leaves out of their winter buds. The plants along the lane are further along than others in more wooded areas. Forsythia and hawthorn have also opened their buds to start their spring growth.

The star magnolia has opened a couple of its large buds and the elderberry shrubs are continuing their leaf development.

I found my favorite Spring Ephemeral in its earliest stages of bloom. The round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana, was sporting a single bloom so far. The evergreen leaves collected the flakey snow, while the bloom hung with her head down as if to say she wasn’t ready to show all.

A single, closed blossom of round-lobed hepatica surrounded by its leaves catching snowflakes.

Columbine has been growing for a couple weeks now. Many small plants are arising from one original plant that was allowed to go to seed. Guess we’ll have to start transplanting as soon as possible!

Columbine greenery starts life as a tight little ball of leaves that gradually open to catch the sun’s rays.

Spiderwort has come up and multiplied since last growing season and the wild ginger is about ready to break out of the ground. Other garden dwellers that have been revived from winter’s sleep include the mints, chrysanthemums and the false indigo.

A group of yarrow that I spotted last fall coming up in the lawn has begun its growth, too. These plants will be scooped up and placed into a native plants garden. We’ll see if it transplants well.

Trying to take pictures outside today would be an utter waste of time.

The wind is gusting over 20 mph and bringing in with it some mighty cold air – at least compared to the high 70s we had on Tuesday!

A friend in Chicago reports their temperature was 75 degrees one day and 29 the next as a clipper from Canada pushed the warm breezes back to the South.

The warmth of three days in the high 60s to mid-70s nudged a few plants into sprouting. Most notable are the trees as they opened their winter buds to release a burst of color and, unfortunately for some of us, loads of sneeze-producing and eye-watering pollen.

Places far to the south of us, like Georgia and North Carolina, have reported extremely high pollen counts. High enough, in fact, to be record-setting amounts. Guess the conditions were just right, as Goldilocks would say. We hope our entrance into Spring will be a little less dramatic here in Pennsylvania.

So far, here are our mountain top trees that have broken out of their winter buds and whether the buds contained foliage or reproductive structures.

• red maple with red flowers
• lilac with light green leaves
• sweet birch with yellow flowers
• elderberry with light green leaves
• star magnolia with white flowers

Snow squalls produced a coating of snow on the ground this morning, which means last night could have been cold enough to harm the more delicate early bloomers. Local tree fruit farmers may have something to worry about tonight, so they will probably be spraying their trees or burning their barrels to minimize the damage.

Our star magnolia just broke her buds three days ago. Yesterday morning three blooms that had begun to open were closed again as if trying to shut out the cold air. More buds have opened by mid-morning today, but the blossoms are not yet out in full. We’ll keep watching and waiting to see when she blooms for real.

Early Spring brings with it many blossoms that are not seen at other times of the year. These early Spring bloomers are often referred to as Ephemeral Spring Flowers to describe their fleeting nature. Flowers may persist for a week or a day, so time is of the essence to observe these Spring Beauties!

Get thee to a National Forest or other trail near ya!

A partial list of early Spring blooming flowers in the Northeastern U. S. include the following:

• trillium
• hepatica
• bloodroot
• rue anemone
• toothwort
• spring beauty
• Virginia bluebells
• twinleaf
• Dutchman’s breeches
• dogtooth violet
• Jack-in-the-pulpit
• showy orchis
• wild geranium
• columbine
• wood sorrel

We have three of these listed beauties on our property, but they have not yet been seen this year. Most of the others can be found at the nearby forest trails.

Have a look here to find a hiking trail near you! Try the PA State Parks if you’ll be searching for wildflowers in Pennsylvania.

Purple Dead Nettle, Lamium purpureum, is another very-low-growing plant that flowers in early Spring.

Characteristics of purple dead nettle include the fact that it is one of the first creeping plants to start growing in Spring. Passing by the plant one can look down and miss the flowers that are tucked under the foliage on erect stems.

Looking down on purple dead nettle you can totally miss the flowers!

The toothed, opposite leaves are somewhat rounded and have a crinkly appearance due to heavy leaf veining. Leaves have longer stalks when found lower on the stem.

Upper leaves hide the lavender flowers that sprout from leaf axils.

Flowers of purple dead nettle are irregular in shape with two lobes on the lower lip. Light lavender or lilac-colored blossoms have spots or lines of purple.

Irregular in shape the purple dead nettle flowers are lilac in color.

Speaking of lilacs, the lilac trees have broken out their winter buds.

You can see how the lilac bud’s tough exterior protected the newly formed greenery.

I don’t remember if these lilacs were purple or white-flowered varieties. Since being transplanted a couple of years ago neither has bloomed, so I hope this year that one of the lilacs will surprise us.

The very earliest blooms are miniscule and usually borne on creeping stems or plants that wind their way through lawns and roadside gravel. Most of us completely ignore these little plants and tiny flowers because they are so small.

Chickweed growing among the gravel on the side of the lane.

Common chickweed (Stellaria media) is found throughout our area – the Northeastern United States and particularly Pennsylvania – and can be found blooming for much of the growing season.

Chickweeds have tiny flowers that are so deeply cut it appears that the blossom has ten petals, when in fact it has five. The little white flowers look like they have pairs of long white petals.

The sepals are longer than the petals in common chickweed and have a fuzzy appearance.

Long, green sepals and an apparent 10 white petals of common chickweed.

This particular chickweed is distinguished from other chickweeds by its long leaf stalks, or petioles.

Long-stemmed leaves are an identifying characteristic of Common Chickweed.

As you take a stroll around your neighborhood, look down! You might find a few of these weeds already blooming.