 | Yellow crocuses
What's cheerier than the very first crocuses peeking through the leaves? These in the countryside near Republic, Missouri, appeared in late February.
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 | Rock and Crocus
Our rugged native limestone makes a beautiful counterpoint to these first crocuses of spring. The scene is ithe Xeriscape Garden in Springfield, Missouri. You can see the garden itself on this website in the Real Gardens section.
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 | Dwarf Iris
These Dwarf Iris were up in all their colors March 3rd in 2007 in the Master Gardener's Demonstration Garden in Springfield's Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park. The dwarf species is Iris reticulata and it blooms before it reaches its full 6-inch height. This perennial naturalizes beautifully in Ozarks gardens. Because bulblets may take years to mature, though, gardeners sometimes plant a few new ones every year.
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 | Hyacinths
Hyacinths, best planted in the fall 6-8 weeks before the first hard frost (early September in the Ozarks), are beloved by many for their clusters of fragrant flowers in March and April. Some varieties will naturalize in ours garden, but their bloom tends to decline with the years, so many gardeners treat them as annuals and replant every year. Note: Summer Hyacinths can be planted in March for bloom in July.
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 | Star Magnolia
This beautiful Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata) came into full bloom on March 21st in Springfield, Missouri. A favorite landscape plant in the Ozarks (and elsewhere), it's easy to maintain and grows into a tree as tall as 20 feet with a spread of 15 feet. It likes partial shade or full sun, sandy or loamy soil, and plenty of moisture. Cultivars are available with pink flowers, pink flowers that fade to white, and white flowers with a pink tinge on the outside. |
 | Spring Bulbs
The first sign of spring in the nurseries? Beautiful spring-blooming daffodils, jonquils, narcissus and tulips, like these at Wickman's Garden Village in Springfield, Missouri, one of the Ozarks' oldest nurseries.
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 | Forsythia afternoon
'Forsythia is pure joy. There is not an ounce, not a glimmer, of sadness....'
Anne Lindbergh (1906-2001)
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 | Spring Wins
Why the title? It's about the forsythia seen against the background of trees broken in the January 2007 ice storm.
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 | Pink Dogwood
One of the Ozarks' most beautiful flowering trees, Pink Dogwood (Cornus florida var. rubra) is also said to be America's favorite tree. Its blossoms in the spring of 2008 were simply spectacular.
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 | White Dogwood
The native Flowering Dogwood can grow to 40 feet high with a 35 foot spread, a breathtaking sight when in bloom.
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 | 'Prairie Fire' Flowering Crabapple
This dazzling burst of color comes from the aptly named 'Prairie Glow' flowering crabapple, caught in full bloom on March 29.
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 | Weeping Cherry
On March 24 this Weeping Cherry (Prunus subhirtella var. pendula) in south central Springfield was coming into full color.
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 | Redbud
The flush of Redbud blossoms is most welcome in the Ozarks spring. This marvelous tree on April 8th was nearing full bloom. It grows in south Springfield, Missouri. An understory tree that normally reaches about 20 feet tall in the forest, Redbud in the open can grow to 50 feet or taller.
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 | A Glorious Year
The blossoming of flowering trees in the Ozarks spring of 2008 was spectacularly lush. Some say the reason was record-setting rains, others that it was the trees response to the severe "pruning" of the trees in the devastating 2007 ice storm. Whatever the reason, it was something to remember.
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 | An oddity?
Well, not really. We'd never seen it before, but then we found a
University of Kentucky reference that said redbud blossoms are often
found on the trunk of the tree. These were spotted in the beautiful Xeriscape Garden in Springfield, Missouri.
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 | Flowering Almond
Flowering shrubs also brighten spring. Especially lovely with its vase-like shape and profusion of soft, pink flowers is the Flowering Almond (Prunus glandulosa). The flowers appear before the leaves. This specimen in a Springfield garden was in full bloom on April 4th. The plant grows 3-4-feet tall, thrives in full sun or partial shade, and does best in light, well-drained garden soil. Note: The blue flowers in the background are Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum).
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 | Peonies
For many in the Ozarks, no flower stirs as many fond memories as the Peony. Easy to grow and thriving in nearly every type of soil, they were favorites of our parents and grandparents, who welcomed them every spring. Peonies do prefer full sun, watering, and good, well-drained garden loam. These were caught in full flower in Springfield, Missouri's, Xeriscape Garden in early May.
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 | Deer in Spring
This beautiful photo of a fawn and wildflowers was provided us by amateur photographer Bob Deroy of Springfield, Missouri. It was taken at the Missouri Conservation Department's Conservation Nature Center in Springfield, a place where all animals are safe.
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 | hummer
One of spring's brightest signs is the return of the hummingbird. This first-sighted specimen was
caught by amateur photographer Bob Deroy at his home in Springfield, Missouri.
(We very much appreciate his sharing it with us.) The
ruby-throated hummingbird is the only one of the 335 hummingbird
species regularly seen in Missouri. So says an absolutely fascinating
article "Nature's Helicopters" in the May 2008 issue of Missouri Conservationist. You can read it for yourself here.
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