Beneath the Snows of Late Winter

What a treat it is to see Spring Beauties blooming in delicate patches amidst the subdued brown of the forest floor! This plant sign in the wildflower garden at the Trailside Nature Museum caught my attention. I paused a moment to envision the tiny bulb of this plant beneath the snow, deep in the dark and frozen earth, somehow sensing its time was near. A time to swell and split, sending a tender shoot upward, pressing on past rocks and torpid insects overwintering nearby in the soil until ultimately it pierced the surface to feel the warm touch of the first light of spring.

Well, I guess this plant and I have to wait a bit longer. Still, hope and anticipation of the approaching spring lingered in my mind. (Check back here in a few weeks to see Spring Beauties in bloom!)