Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Spring???



As the wind picks up here at Blue Licks today, I’m wondering what weather will be blown in to our area. It turned out Old Man Winters bark was much worse than his bite over the weekend with an original forecast of over 5 inches of snow, only to see sunny skies and relatively warm temperatures. I even headed out on the trails to see what early bloomers might be poking their heads up to greet us. In years past I’ve been amazed at the number of trout lilies that seem to infest the nature preserve over behind the campground. Unfortunately though, it appears to still be a bit too early even for those. While the wildflowers, at least for around here, are not quite ready to say hello, the daffodils in front of the museum are beginning to let us know that Easter is on its way. When I was young, my mother would always call them “Easter lilies,” because they were always an indication that I would very soon be able to stuff my face with all kinds of candy and maybe, just maybe, find that special golden egg my grandparents would put out in their backyard for all the grandchildren to find. I never had much luck finding that special egg, being the youngest of 7 grandchildren. I blame my older brother. But I could always count on Ms. Emma’s “Easter lilies” each year to let me know that Peter Cottontail would soon be visiting. Ms. Emma was our neighbor just down the road who always had a whole hillside of daffodils that my mother and I would stop by and pick a large bouquet of flowers for the house. Not sure if Ms. Emma ever knew we did that, but as far as I’m concerned, she was as much a part of that memory as the flowers were. 


Daffodils at the Pioneer Museum
Depending upon what the weather does the next week or so, I would suspect that some of those early bloomers my start appearing. Perhaps those trout lilies will take over the Nature Preserve, maybe even some Harbingers of Spring will start blooming. Meanwhile, why not get some study time in and be prepared for what’s to come. Check out this LINK to the Kentucky Native Plant Society for some great resources to brush up on your plant identification. I’ll be sure and keep you posted on what’s going on here at Blue Licks along the trails the next couple of months. Take care and stop by often!