Crocuses!

In the fall I planted crocuses (specific Latin name unknown) and (in the hope that it will smother weeds) thymus serphyllum - creeping thyme - at the base of the mailbox flowerbed. And it's spring! The crocuses have buds. The creeping thyme is starting to look less dead.



Crocuses sprouting up through the thyme.



Perhaps when I get home tonight this bud will be open.


Some critter sampled this one. I noticed last fall that some of the saffron crocuses were sampled as well, but in both cases, I think the bunny or deer got a bellyache and moved on.



This is one of the horribly confused crocus sativus, or saffron crocus. This growth is not new - it has been like this, beneath the snow, since December! They were supposed to grow and bloom in November, but they seem to have made a late start, and then been held in stasis over the winter. Will they die? I'm starting to think they might survive.

On another note, three, no, four nights ago, we could hear peepers from across the street! Peepers are a sort of tree frog that signal the arrival of spring with their chirping. However, temperatures dropped after that first night, cold enough for it to spit a little snow yesterday evening, even - so the frogs have put their chorus on hold.