to Long Hill

Yesterday was my first spring visit of the year to the gardens of Long Hill in Beverly, MA. I was delighted to see that tiny flowers are starting to emerge.

"Tommy" crocus pops in shades of lavender.

low tide

It was a good day for a low tide walk in the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. The beach in the refuge closes next week for the piping plover nesting season so it will be my last walk on the beach there for a while.

I'm sending happy nesting wishes to the birds!

Iris reticulata

As the rain started falling this afternoon I headed to a local church garden to check for early spring flowers. I found dwarf iris in a wonderful shade of blue.

Early spring flowers are truly special.

two

When I walked yesterday I saw crocus just emerging with the flowers tightly closed. Today both crocus and dwarf iris were in full bloom.

Isn't spring wonderful?

mini daffs

I headed to Maudslay State Park yesterday to see if any early spring wildflowers had emerged. I found spring snowflakes, snowdrops, and miniature daffodils.

The daffs were so small that I almost missed the bits of bright yellow scattered across a small hill.

What a wonderful sign of spring!

first flowers

As I walked in the rain this morning I kept my eyes out for early flowers.

I was rewarded with a patch of just opening snowdrops, a sure sign of spring.

photos! spring bulb show at Smith College

Tuesday's visit to the 2025 Spring Bulb Show at the Botanic Garden of Smith College was a delight!

It allowed me to jump forward to spring, to walk through a greenhouse bursting with the bright colors of tulips and daffodils.

Click here to wander through photos in the gallery spring flowers at Smith College :: 2026.

a drive to flowers

Today I headed west to visit the Spring Bulb Show at Smith College in Northampton, MA.

Two greenhouses filled with bright spring flowers - tulips, daffodils, freesia, and more - provided an early view of the season. Delightful!

listen...

Listen... can you hear the music of the ocean?

It was a perfect morning to walk at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. The boardwalks to the beach were mostly clear; only a few sections of boardwalk were covered with compacted snow and ice.

It felt wonderful to be on the beach, sharing it with a few people and a lot of birds.

melting

The air is warmer, snow is compacting, ice is melting.

I welcome this week's warmer days as a taste of early spring.