There are some plants that loom large for me in the wheel of the year. These are the ones whose timing is more predictable and seems relevant to me in terms of how I relate to the seasons.
Snowdrops are the first flowers I watch for, and celandines are the second. While crocuses and hellebores can show up in that time frame, and the first greenery starts to emerge, it's the cheery nature of celandines that inclines me to pay particular attention to them.
Each year, the exact order of spring flowers emerging can vary - along with the elf caps, which tend to show up around now locally but overall have a much longer season. I try to be alert to how the year is unfolding specifically rather than working with generalised ideas about spring. There are always outliers and oddities - I've got a few elder trees putting out leaves already.
The climate crisis means that we will probably have increased unpredictability around how the seasons unfold. Plant species will adapt - or fail to adapt - in different ways. It feels important to me to be alert to what's happening and to engage with it.
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