Winter Aconite

Well, as most of you know, the groundhog lied this year. I stopped counting on an early spring a while ago, but here and there some signs of progress can be found.

Beginning all the way back in mid January, these pretty little buds (which I just learned are called Winter Aconite) started popping up around the bases of our trees in both the front and the back yard.

We'd have a warm day or two and more would emerge, only to disappear under thick blankets of snow and ice again, and again. Each time they froze, I'd think to myself, "This time there's no way they'll hold on under all that," but time and again I was proven wrong.

Today the sun came out and is teasing us once again with a bit of warmth, and for the first time, I found that some of the Aconite buds had blossomed...

The weekend forecast is calling for more days of snow, but maybe these optimistic little guys know something the meteorologists have missed.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.