Saturday, April 23, 2011

Sunday Stills "Wildflowers or flowers"

We had a very, very long, hard winter here in western North Daktoa and eastern Montana. From the middle of November to as recently as two days ago, we have had snow and more snow.  It seemed as if we would never see bare ground again. In the past few weeks the snow has melted away except in the shady places and draws. When we do get new snow, it melts within a day. Even with that, I think everyone in our country is sick of snow!

One of the most anticipated events of spring here is the appearance of the crocus that pop up on the prairie. It seems everyone has received or picked these pretty little flowers for someone at sometime in their life. Most moms or wives will tell you that it is a great spring ritual for someone to bring you some crocuses.
This spring seemed so slow coming, and the flowers seemed reluctant to bloom. For the past several weeks every time I was out in the pasture and the sun was shining,I walked along looking for the first crocus.  It was discouraging not to find any! A week ago, while  checking over the damage done to one of our fences by the snow, my husband and I found some crocus that had pushed thru the soil on a sunny ridge. They were not blooming yet, but they had buds on them!! So there was hope for spring!!!  A few days later, I was out in the pasture checking cows and rode to the ridge. Instead of just buds, there were blossoms!! Now, the crocus are blooming in profusion, even though we have had snow one day since. It also looks like there is a second crop ready to bloom when these fade away. Sometimes the crocus bloom a few weeks earlier than this. This year it seems they too were waiting for spring to really come!
The last photo is of the first domestic crocus to bloom in my yard. They have been blooming for a week now.




14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Theser are so lovely, I didn't know crocus grow wild!!

Michelle said...

I love these little flowers! There is so much texture to them and they must be little warriors to fight the cold/snow to bloom!

Sarah said...

wonderful to see evidence of springtimes coming to my home. they are so delicate to survive in such a, dare I say, harsh climate? Looks can be decieving.

Wander Woman said...

Great photos! It's so nice to see what spring looks like in other parts of the country.

Jen

Achieve1dream said...

Those are pretty. I don't think I've ever seen them before. Very nice. Happy Easter!

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Oooh! So unusual and pretty. I've never seen them wild.

~Lisa

Shirley said...

Perfect- just in time for Easter.

MTWaggin said...

Well even with more and more snow, you found the pasque flowers I had hoped to find here. I've heard rumors they are blooming on the sunny side of the mountains but have yet to find them. Very pretty shots my dear!

Crystal said...

I always heard that crocus bloom a week before Easter. I thought it was nonsense, but its pretty accurate. Early Easter, we have early crocus.

5 Starr's Farm said...

Hi Judy, I just love wild flowers, your crocuses are beautiful, I'll bet it's quite a sight looking across at them. Isn't it funny how every part of the world has its first flower that we cherish. For me it's our little blue wild Iris in the foothills that my husband picks.

DayPhoto said...

Great shots! Our mountains still have snow, keep getting it in fact. Good for our water supply but everyone is really tired of this very long winter. Spring (here) is very wet. So wet we had to turn off the irrigation because we didn't need it. Way too wet.

Sigh.

Great photos, once more.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Sharmin said...

Love those flowers, we don't have them around here, but my roses have started blooming.

aurora said...

Absolutely beautiful! They resemble my pasque flowers.

Anonymous said...

pretty flowers... havent seen them before...