Scouting For Buttercups
There seems to be a promise of spring in the air lately. Cherry trees are blooming, tulips are popping up, and temperatures are mild. Yet, I hold out for Buttercups. Nothing says spring like those brightly painted, happy little wild flowers, picked by the fist-fulls as kids. They are the official stamp of spring in my book.
I’ve been keeping an eye out for them, maybe I’ll spot an early bloomer here or there. But so far, I haven’t seen any. Buttercups prefer warmer weather and sunshine, kind of like I do. The longer the days are, the more likely we’ll start hearing reports of Buttercup sightings. They are almost as important as whale sightings this time of year. When the whales come through, we know summer is just around the corner. When the Buttercups bloom, it’s even closer.
I think they’re under-appreciated. Have you ever seen a happier flower? Do you know of any other color that smiles the way Buttercup yellow does?
And Buttercups demand nothing of us. Everything they need is provided by Mother Nature. No soil preparation or fertilizer required. No weeding or hoeing. They get to be wild and free, the way we’d all like to be. They grow anywhere there’s soil, popping up here and there without a care in the world.
Some people consider them a weed. I never have. Weeds are supposed to be nasty unsightly scraggly things we don’t like to look at. Weeds aren’t supposed to make us smile.
I think we should try and be more like Buttercups; cheerful, beautiful in a unique sort of way, low maintenance, spontaneous, and full of new beginnings.
We’ve been swimming our way through the rainy Pacific Northwest winter long enough. That’s right…keep an eye out…the Buttercups are coming!
Later,
Mary Ann
I can’t wait to see them Buttercups! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. Maybe I have but just didn’t know what kind of flower it is. 🙂
I feel spring.. summer will be right around the corner. 🙂
Hi Mary Ann,
Yes. Beautiful buttercup! For me? One more to add to the list would be
“dandelions”. A weed? Au contraire. A colorful sign of Spring! 🙂
The buttercups are coming….I’m picturing you on horse Mary Ann, riding through town and shouting, “the buttercups are coming, the buttercups are coming”
I too am a fan of the low or no maintenance color…flower or weed as long as it has color. When I first moved to TX, I spent $2500 to landscape the back yard. It was beautiful for about 20 days…then thiings started to wither, brown up…I couldn’t figure out what was happening. I took a little plant to Home Depot (suggested by my friend)….I said to the plant man, “what do you think? rabbits? bugs? some kind of plant disease”…He replied, “water”, I said, “water?”….”yes m’am, plants down here needs lots of water”…wouldn’t you know, my little plants perked right up. But if a buttercup can survive w/out the help of me….then I’m planting buttercups.
Signs of spring?
How about this? The dog was yapping his fool head off today, despite the repeated, “SHUUUUUT UUUUP!” I threw in his general direction as I sat in my garage office doing…nothing. Suddenly, my eyes started watering and my lungs started burning- and the dog stopped barking.
Yes, a skunk sprayed somewher in my driveway. Never have I been so glad for a steel door and a glass window! It must be spring.
We really dig what you write about here. I try and come back to your site every day so keep up the good writing!
My mother always told me “Weeds are just plants that grow where you don’t want them to”.