ActiveRainPhotobloggerContest ~ Finally Spring in Truckee ???
The winter that never ends, that is the term that the locals who live in the Tahoe Truckee coined for the winter of 2010. We had a big snow storm before Thanksgiving 2010 and the snow kept piling on through March 2011. Record breaking snowfall, snowiest month of March on record...all contribute to several feet of snow still blanketing my garden during the month of April. According to tahoeweatherdiscussion.com, this winter is at number 7 in the past 100 years and number 12 since 1879 when record keeping began.
Finally a few days ago, I woke up to the what seemed to be the first blue sky day in a long time, and miracle of all miracle, the snow had completely disappeared from the garden next to my front door. Green daffodils & iris leaves sprout here and there though most of the garden are still brown and bare. Eagerly stepping out to inspect my garden, I was overjoyed to discover my beautiful trusty Pasque flowers already in bloom.
The Pasque Flowers usually are the first flowers to blossom as soon as the snow melts. These bluish purple flowers have a vibrant yellow center and silvery stems with lacy leaves. Another name for Pasque Flower is "Easter Flower" from the Old French word Pasque which means Easter. Since the plant usually blooms around Easter, one can easily understand the origin of its name.
For me Pasque Flowers signify that Spring has officially arrived. It is time to don my hat, bring out my gardening tools and spend as much time as I can spare to prune, plant, watch my irises, daffodils, lavender paint a colorful canvas throughout my yards, attracting bees, hummingbirds, blue jays,....
I feel blessed to live in a four season climate where each season offers different landscape and sports for me to enjoy.
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