Some kind of lily tulip, I think. It has striped leaves.

The color for April is… first flowers. I know, I know. But after a snow-covered, ground-frozen winter, the colors of the first flowers are near-miraculous. How do they do it? These are all first-appearing flowers from bulb, seed or shrubbery that have endured, uneaten by creature or climate, the months of cold. Look, really look at a flower. You cannot question the expansive benevolence of the universe.

And of course the daffodils

May Swenson talks about daffodils best:

Yellow telephones
in a row in the garden
are ringing,
shrill with light.

Old-fashioned spring
brings earliest models out
each April the same,
naïve and classical.

Look into the yolk-
colored mouthpieces
alert with echoes.
Say hello to time.

Tiny small bi-color daffodils

A clump of wild violets, even tinier and smaller

Dandelions, too, are a first flower. Appreciate, then say goodbye to this one.

Another weed, very prevalent. I will not win this battle, though I will try.

Pieris japonica ‘Cavatine’, dwarf lily-of-the-valley shrub

The time of many flowers is coming. I tend to favor self-propagating, working perennials — those that attract and feed bees, butterflies, and birds. After three springs here (and the presence of Dog keeping the deer away), there will be a satisfying abundance of both color and utility. We will continue to enjoy the delicious splendor, a lot.

First flowers are specialer, though. Thank you! Grow some flowers today!