Cheering for spring

Many of us are longing for springtime by mid January. We want warmer weather and colorful spring flowers to be here already. The jonquil flower is in agreement.

I took this photo Jan. 19, 2023, on a very cold morning after the nighttime temperature had dropped to 4 degrees. It had snowed a few days earlier. The green spears jutting out of the snow are jonquils. They begin to appear each January on south-facing hillsides in Southeast Missouri. The extreme cold does not damage or kill them.

The jonquil flower has been traced back to origins in Spain and Portugal. It has been naturalized in many parts of the world, including much of the southeastern United States.