early spring in the upper midwest

It’s happening. Things are coming back to life here in the frozen tundra. Of course we still have some winterish weather even though we’re almost to the end of April.

BUT, I’m not here to talk about the weather even if it’s a favorite topic around these parts. I wanted to share some photos of early spring from my perspective. Photos of the yellow weeping willows, the rhubarb poking through the ground and first blooms so far. And one photo related to spring at the end but it hasn’t anything to do with the growing season.

Up first is a gallery of scenes at the park mostly. Notice the bright yellow of the weeping willows and the ice still on the lake in the first photo. In the one photo with the street, you can see a tree on the right with a slight red color. Those buds are just coming in!

Next, my rhubarb plant that comes back every year starting with when it first starts to poke through the ground.

first poking through the ground

getting bigger

almost time for rhubarb crisp!

And some first blooms: snowdrops, crocus, scillia, bleeding hearts not blooming yet, tulips, grape hyacinth.

snowdrops, first to bloom

crocus

another crocus

scillia

bleeding hearts

“purplies” (not sure what these are)

tulips

We have several families of turkeys in our neighborhood and I happened upon this guy just hanging out in the middle of the street strutting his stuff. It wasn’t until my husband saw him and he told me why the turkey had this stance. It’s spring and he’s looking for a mate! Happy spring!