Snowdrops

This morning on a quiet street not far from here where children from four families merge to form one carpool, one of the other moms rolled down her window to tell me excitedly that her snowdrops are blooming.

'Snowdrops?' I asked. I'd never really heard of them before. I always thought crocus came up first, then daffodils, then phlox, then tulips, then iris. After that I lose track with flowers popping out on trees and in flower beds everywhere for several months until the fall, when they all die again.

So this evening I searched online for pictures of snowdrops, which often bloom as early as January or February, I found out. And they're beautiful! Of course I've seen them before without ever really noticing them.

So I will make a note to plant some snowdrop bulbs this fall. In Scotland they have snowdrop festivals to celebrate them as the first sign of spring.