>Spring here kinda sucks

I used to feel that way, but now I love Spring here!

Around Feb 5, it's the end of the Dark 13 -- the darkest 13 weeks of the year. From this point, the days will get lighter longer exponentially faster.

In February, visit the glassed-in botanical gardens in Roger Williams Park. Stepping over the threshold is like Dorothy leaving b&w Kansas and entering technicolor Oz, back when technicolor was brand-new

And February is when all the citrus trees there come into bloom. Bury your nose in them: the fragrance is otherworldly 🤤

Meanwhile, back in the neighborhood, end of February is when the first spring flowers bloom: on witch hazel. The blooms look like a slightly pallid forsythia.

Then start looking on the ground in sunny spots for snowdrop shoots. There are some that bloom in my neighborhood as early as end of Feb and certainly by early March.

Right after them come the crocuses.

By that time, even though we'll get snow on our daffodils, they can take it: get buried in snow and road salt yet spring right back, good as new. And the snow melts fast by now. You can easily feel how much warmer the sun is.

Visit the grounds of Blithewold in Bristol: there are literally tens of thousands of daffodils blooming throughout their woods.

And next, there's a parade of flowers that come into bloom, each in their turn marking progress toward warmth.

The flowering trees are spectacular here, especially on the East Side of Providence. Magnolia are the earliest, dogwood the final ones. By the time you see those, summer is nearly here.

Around Mother's Day, when you notice rhododendrons are starting to bloom, visit the Kinney Azalea Gardens in S Kingston near URI. Prof Kinney devoted his life to traveling the world (mostly China) and bringing back cultivars of azalea and rhododendrons, and using the grounds of his house to further develop them. I believe he is the reason RI has so many spectacular rhodos and azaleas everywhere. The blooming time at his garden spans at least 5 weeks. He's passed but left the garden as a legacy with a staff to maintain it, and open to the public.

Spring is spectacular in RI if you know where to look