Appearances and reappearances and disappearances

Redbud trees were in bloom by suppertime yesterday, or at least some were. All will be out by evening today. They were attracting clouds of honeybees. We are seeing a second kind of leucojums in bloom now; they're new ones, purchased from a bargain bin in the fall. They have shorter stems, larger flowers, and points that are curved. It's highly unlikely that there will be any flowers, although it's possible because of the extended chills this winter, but, for the first time this year, we're finding lots of leaves up from old Dutch tulip bulbs. Flowers of one kind of ornamental allium (flowering garlic) are appearing. In exposed places, some leaves were frozen during the cold. These are the blooms that dry beautifully. Thanks to the blue jays and the squirrels, nearly all the record bumper crop of acorns has vanished or leaves only small particles of broken shells behind. Pale pink hyacinths are blooming for the first time this year. Thieves of Ice Follies have struck again. They usually swoop down for the Valentine season, but there were no Ice Follies at that time this year. Some bud stalks froze and others have opened during the course of this week.