Snowdrops Are Up!

 

I saw my first snowdrops of the year yesterday. I know it is still far off but here is a sign that spring is coming. Click to enlarge.

Snowdrops are pretty little flowers and well adapted for their role as January bloomers. They produce proteins that act like biological antifreeze to keep their sap from freezing. They have strong leaf tips that let them push up through frozen soil and snow. They usually reproduce asexually from bulbs dividing underground. Too cold for bees? No problem.

"Chaste snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
and pensive monitor of fleeting years!"

 ...from To a Snowdrop by William Wordsworth