Jonquil trio in the snow

March is a transitional time in Southeast Missouri with springtime close at hand. According to NOAA National Climatic Data Center, the average March snowfall for Cape Girardeau during the period from 1981 through 2010 was 1.2 inches. During this same time-frame average March temperatures ranged from a high of 58 degrees to a low of 36 degrees. Normally by March 23 we can expect highs around 60 degrees and lows around 40. Normally we can expect light snow on only two days during March.

By today our woodland wildflowers such as spring beauty should be blooming and we should expect slim chances for more snow. I took this photo of jonquils blooming in the snow the afternoon of March 16. I found them on a south-facing hillside at the edge of a woods. Jonquils are not native wildflowers. They are a species of daffodil native to northern Africa and southwest Europe.