All parts of the growing season fill me with a particular kind of joy, but the happiness I get from seeing spring blooms is unmatched. After a long, cold winter, there’s nothing like seeing the first crocus, clusters of yellow daffodils, and a cheerful riot of color from tulip plantings. 

The Hopeful Spring Wildflowers

There are two types of spring blooms that make my day in early spring in Michigan. The first are the wildflowers that bravely emerge so early, often as soon as late March. They risk getting a dump of snow, but still push through and add color to the forest floor. 

Michigan woodlands are among my favorite places, both to run and walk. But this time of year, walking is best. The slower pace allows me to search for the first new flowers: 

• Spring beauty, with its delicate, pink-striped, white petals
• Bright yellow marsh marigold in wetland areas of the forest
• Bloodroot, which has the purest white flowers you’ve ever seen
• Trillium, the state wildflower that puts out an occasional pink bloom in a sea of white
• The unique Jack-in-the-pulpit
• Yellow trout lily with uniquely mottled leaves

I love the peak time of early spring, when several of these varieties show their faces at once. It means garden season is just about here. 

A Cheerful Mix of Spring Bulbs

Just a little bit later, after the wildflowers have made the first charge, the cultivated spring bulbs arise from gardens and yards. I love seeing a sea of yellow, white, and purple crocus flowers dotting a green lawn. To me, that feels like spring. 

Hyacinth is a favorite mostly for its perfumed scent. The heady aroma is the smell of spring. And the mix of pastel colors is so pretty and always reminds me of Easter. 

Daffodils come up pretty early in my neighborhood. I don’t grow any, but several of my neighbors do. They are so cheerful on a walk or run through the streets in my area. I love to spot them as I go and take comfort in the sign that cold days will now be fewer. 

Finally, the mix of colors that come up with tulips never fail to signal to me that winter is over. Inspired by a nearby house that planted a huge amount of bulbs in a range of colors, I have since planted my own tulip bulbs in fall. There is something about the chaos of everything mixed together that is so beautiful: red, purple, yellow, striped, white, pink, why not have it all? 

Summer is my favorite weather. Fall is cozy and comforting. But for me, nothing beats the mix of flowers that bloom in spring.