Month: January 2024

Expecting Spring

I am getting old. I have seen many Springs, but these days I often wonder how many more I will see before I pass from this life and dissolve into the great mystery. I push these thoughts away before I move into despair and fear. I am determined to concentrate on the joy to be found every day…especially the abundant little joys found in the Spring. Some of these little joys are the early flowers. Specifically, I am talking about the little anemone flowers that bloom before most other flowers. I have looked in my front yard and in the nearby greenbelt, but no luck so far.

Here is what I am searching for:

They can be white, pink, purple, or blue. The flower heads are on a tall, slender stalk up to a foot high. Anemones are perennials and are in the family Ranunculaceae (Buttercup). They occur in prairies and woodlands from January through April.

               Flower Fly On Anemone

We have at least 4 species in Texas and I don’t know if the ones I have seen in past years are the Carolina Anemone (Anemone caroliniana) or the Ten-Petal Anemone (Anemone berlandieri).

Fun Facts:

  • What look like the petals are actually sepals…don’t ask…I need to learn more.
  • The “petals” close up at night or during low light days.
  • Although Indigenous peoples used parts of the plant as medicine in healing wounds and others made a tea from it, the plant is considered toxic (neurotoxin).
  • The word anemone is from a Greek word meaning wind. Some say the spring breezes cause the flowers to open. Others noticed them swaying in the wind.
  • There are about 150 species of related anemones in the world in both the southern and northern hemispheres.
  • Folklore associated with the plants range from those who say anemones are the “lilies of the field” in the New Testament to them representing blood in Greek mythology. In China there is an anemone that is associated with death. My favorite story is that when it rains, fairies sleep in the closed up petals.

I will keep looking every day and when I see my first anemone, I will smile and welcome another Spring.

Sources-

Wildflowers of Texas by Geyata Ajilvsgi

Legends of Texas Wildflowers by Elizabeth Silverthorne

Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country by Marshall Enquist

Heralds of Spring in Texas by Roland H. Wauer

Wildflower.org

Photos by B. McCreary