We have a similar bevy of beauties that emerge here in central NC. I too watch the emergence of the spring ephemerals. The very first things I notice in spring is the greening of the moss along the creek. My totally uninformed guess on why this appears first is that as the days grow longer, the moss is able to photosynthesize more and hence, the startling green amongst the brown leaves and banks.
I'd be an idiot to think the next things I notice are the next things that emerge. They are simply what my untrained eyes notices next and they are: First in show- daffodils and similar flowers that are smaller (don't now their names) in early January in a sheltered west- facing location next to my house. Then snow bells, the spring peepers and of course, the humble star of the forest in spring, the trout lilies. I have to digress a bit here: This year the spring peepers starting peeping much later. Don't know why. They are usually the first thing I notice. I know they breed in wet areas so maybe it had something to do with a dryish winter? No idea, but I usually notice them way sooner, say January. Didn't hear them until March this year.
Red buds here have already dropped there luscious purple flowers (I love how they emerge on the actual trunk of the tree, not just the branches) and the magnolias and forsynthia have bloomed and moved on too. Tulips came on fast and many are fading. Native azaleas now line the banks of the creek and tiny native iris are scattered on the woodland floor. The buckeye is leafed out and even the poison ivy has emerged (I know it is native and beneficial to the birds, but oh how it plagues me).
I grew up in NJ and then lived in Western Massachusetts. I still marvel that here there in the NC Piedmont something is in bloom every month of the year. The wild asters end in December and the daffodils and camellias grace us in January. Something else that astounds me, even after 25 years in the southeast, is that the ground stays soft and penetrable almost every day of the year. During winter in Massachusetts the ground was frozen as hard as concrete when not covered in snow. I remember reveling in the earth becoming soft some time in March and how good it felt under my feet.
As you've surmised, I too notice and take inventory in the reemergence of life each spring. I feel so fortunate to be in a place where I can see and become familiar with the earth's infinite wonders. I think of people in bleak urban settings and war zones who cannot witness this firsthand. It pains me truly, probably because I count on the beauty and evidence of life and goodness to renew my spirit and soothe my soul. I don't know where I'd be without it. The earth is my north star, so to speak.
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