First Flowers of Spring

It's not just the critters returning and waking that celebrate spring; the flowers are popping up quickly too.  Just a few days after the snow melted on top of them, the tiny dwarf iris (iris reticulata) were in bloom, two days ago.  They have to be my favourite flower, and they are the very first blooms in our own garden in the spring.

This iris only stands about 6" tall, and ours is planted in the scree garden.  These are the green stems I posted coming up through the gravel a few days ago - my suspicions were right, they were the iris.

It's the brilliant yellow and white pattern in the royal blue flowers, taken from above, that fascinates me.

In the veggie garden, literally under the blanket of snow, ready to show up as soon as the snow evaporated, is my rhubarb.  Not everyone likes rhubarb, but I love it, and have several large healthy plants.

They first emerge with a thin light brown 'skin' covering and protecting the leaves.  This leaf, 2" across, is all ready to unfurl, when it will probably grow to nearly 2 feet across (if I don't pick it first).

And the first flower in the woods and swamps around here is the skunk cabbage, here poking its mottled red protective sheath out of the water.  The flower is out of sight down inside, and the green spikes are emerging leaves.

Skunk cabbage grows to this stage under the snow in the spring, and is revealed as the snow melts.

Tomorrow, back to Wodehouse Creek and the ephemeral waterfall.  I did get down to see it this weekend, and have some pictures.  Amazing, and quite a hair-raising expedition to get there!

These flowers are nowhere near the flowers usually posted on 'Today's Flowers', but because they're the very first flowers of spring here, I hope the qualify, so I'm linking to: