Is spring here yet?

Ok, it's January 25th so I don't think spring could be here yet. However, the temperatures have been in the 50's this week and everyonce in awhile I walk outside and I think I'm feeling that unimstakable feeling I have felt 35 times before. It's kind of hard to describe but it's like a combination of smell, temperature, sunlight, and earth......It's hard to describe but you kind of know when you feel spring in the air. It doesn't hurt that the first of the spring blooming bulbs have popped up as well.

Narcissus cantabricus

A native of Southern Spain and Morocco, according to Mssrs. Phillips and Rix found," growing in oak and pine woods on limestone". It's also important to note that t the "stamens are always included in the corona, not projecting"

Perhaps this is why I feel that tinge of spring in the air? I visited an old friend and employer today and the subject of the first flower of spring came up and how that makes gardeners feel. Well, here is my first flower of the spring.



Of course, having just told you that the stamens don't protude from the corona, I find a picture from last year labeled N. cantabricus in which the  stames appear to protrude. It could just be the angle. One other thing to note is the previous picture was from a pot grown specimen in the greenhouse and this one is from a raised bed outside.

Narcissus watieri
Another native of Morocco and not blooming now, but just to remind you that much more is coming in the next few months.