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.