Spring arrived March 20, but some days I wonder if it is really here. We’ve had temperatures vary from the high-30s to some days in the mid-80s.

If it weren’t for seeing harbingers of the season such as birds gathering building materials for nests, trees pushing out their leaf buds, ephemeral wildflowers appearing among the old leaves of fall, and male spring peepers calling for mates, I at times would question whether spring has sprung.

My wife, Bev, and I enjoy all four seasons. That’s why we have not become snowbirds. Many of our retired friends are snowbirds, heading to Florida and other southern states for the winter. A few have moved south permanently.

Speaking of snowbirds, the slate-colored juncos will soon leave the Lehigh Valley to head north to breed. The juncos, instead of returning to the Lehigh Valley from the south as most of our summer birds do each year, arrive for the winter and go back north for the summer.

Perhaps you’ve wondered how the first day of spring is determined because it varies, unlike Christmas, which is on Dec. 25 every year. This year, the astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere began March 20 and ends June 21.

The spring equinox, or vernal equinox in our hemisphere, is also called the March equinox. It begins when the sun crosses the celestial equator, which is an imaginary line above the earth’s equator running from south to north. This happens each year on March 19, 20 or 21. This year, 2017, it was on March 20.

Equinox is a term from Latin, combining the Latin words equal and night. Most locations on earth have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night during the March equinox.

In March and April, nature springs back to life. I missed most of the early spring signs last year because of health problems. This year, I hope to take full advantage of the ephemeral changes as many of these signs are in view for but a very short time.

Many of the region’s spring woodland plants bloom quickly to take advantage of the sun’s light before the tree leaves develop and cast shade on the woodland floor. These flowers need plenty of sunlight.

Coltsfoot is one of the area’s earliest wildflowers. It’s a perennial herbaceous plant that is spread by seeds and rhizomes. You’ve probably observed coltsfoot growing along rural road edges in late winter and early spring and thought it was a dandelion. But coltsfoot blooms much earlier than the dandelion.

At first glance, it looks as though the flowers grow singly at the top of a short stem with no apparent leaves. The coltsfoot leaves usually form after the flower has withered.

If you take a closer look, you will see the plant has leaves folded low on the stem. When open, they resemble a cross-section of a colt’s foot. I‘ve also noticed that if you look at the flower upside down, it resembles a Clydesdale’s hoof.

The beautiful bloodroot, with its eye-catching white single flowers, blooms for only several days. The flower is the short-lived part of the life cycle. Flowers mature quickly, experiencing a short growth period, producing seeds and then die back to its underground parts until next year.

Additional ephemeral wildflowers in the Lehigh Valley include crocuses, trilliums, Dutchman’s breeches and trout lily, which is also called dog tooth daisy and adder’s tongue. Bluets, common violets, wild hyacinth, wild geranium and spring beauty are also blooming at this time.

Trilliums, also known as tri-flowers, as the name implies, have three flower petals and three leaves. The flowers might be white, pink, purple, yellow or green. The fruit is berry-like. They are found in rich, moist woods.

Dutchman’s breeches gets its name from the flowers that dangle down from the stem. The flowers resemble pantaloons hanging from a wash line. They bloom in rich woods during spring.

Trout lilies are members of the lily family. There are about 20 to 30 species. They grow from long tooth-like roots. The root gives rise to the common name, dog-tooth violet, but it‘s in the daisy family, not in the violet family. Trout lily bulbs are edible as a root vegetable and they can be ground into flour. They grow in woods and meadows.

Bluets are tiny, showy flowers, a mere one centimeter across, attached to short stems. There is one flower per stem. They thrive in moist acidic soils and shade and grow well in grassy areas.

Wild hyacinth is a member of the asparagus family. The basal leaves vary from eight to 32 inches in length. They grow to a height of 12 to 50 inches with multi-flowered stems rising from the main plant. They grow prolifically in moist meadows, coloring the meadow in blue. As perennials, they return each year, often covering a larger area than the previous year.

Wild geranium is a perennial native to woodlands in Eastern North America, also known as spotted cranesbill or wild cranesbill in some United States locales and Europe. It prefers dry to moist woods and usually covers a fairly large area. They appear from April to June.

The rose-white flowers are one to one and a half inches in diameter, sporting five petals. Native Americans and early settlers used the plant’s astringent qualities to stop bleeding.

Look for these short-lived spring wildflowers and listen to the sound of the spring peepers before they disappear for another year.

That’s the way I see it!

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&Copy; 2017 Bud Cole