Crocus, hyacinth, and jonquil are springing up all around us, letting us know, with what we hope is certainty, that the long winter has receded. The daylight hours are beginning to stretch, giving us a few more minutes outside in the evenings–Extra time to explore new buds emerging, inventory winter damage, and plan new garden plots.

My daughter wants to immediately pick the jonquils and bring them inside, and I can hardly blame her–Their sunshiney yellow is spring incarnate. But I can’t bring myself to cut those first few flowers…they’ve worked too hard, been through too much winter, to simply snip them off at the knees. As more and more emerge, however, we’ll be unable to resist bringing at least a few inside to keep company.

I’m taken with calling those bright yellow flowers, jonquils. Some say daffodil and some say narcissus, but I like jonquil. I’m not sure if its a southern thing or an Appalachian thing, but it’s what my grandmother called them. And they remind me of her and all she taught me.

So here we are, with those deposits of bulbs made into the late autumn soil, finally bearing the dividends of spring. Quite a bounty! Definitely falls under the category of “Totally Worth It.”