Earlier in the week we had 13-degree weather.   Nice day on Saturday, so Cindy, Ethan, Sydney and I decided to head down to The Pocket, famous wildflower location at the foot of Pigeon Mountain.  I wanted to get a peek at what might be starting, fully expecting nothing.  I was surprised!

I was surprised, because there were wildflowers starting up.   The first thing I saw was a little chickweed along the “wood poppy slope.”  A bit further along I spotted a spot of white.  Looking closer, there was a tiny cluster of white blossoms, with dark specks – stamen.  I didn’t recognize them, and took several photographs to help in my identification quest.  This post is being written after the fact, and I subsequently discovered these little flowers are aptly named “Harbinger of Spring” – also Pepper and Salt. 

As we got to the end of the boardwalk, I noticed another splash of white.  It was an hepatica – Anemone acutiloba – that was about to open.   As we walked along, we spotted several more buds starting to open, and one blossom fully opened.

The toothworts were also up in abundance, with many of them showing clusters of buds, promising blooms in the near future. 

Promise of an exciting spring.