Emerging from the winter of 2021-22, I am more eager than ever to notice signs of spring. This Vancouver winter seems to have been longer than ever; after all we live here because we don’t want to shovel snow. Once again, we didn’t travel outside Canada, giving ourselves the excuse of rising airfares, but it could have been Covid that discouraged us and our irrational desire to wait out the challenges at home. And then there were the three long periods of snow and ice, when we in Vancouver are accustomed to one to three days at the most of sub-zero temperatures and snow.
So I’m noticing early blossoms and leaf buds opening. And birds singing, preparing to mate. This week, I photographed the first big rhododendron trusses in Stanley Park, pale pink and fresh with rain.
Daffodils are growing at the feet of trees. Crocuses in a rainbow of colours arrange themselves gracefully around root flares, nestling in among carpets of lime green moss.
The early ‘Whitcomb’ cultivar of cherry blossoms at the corner of Nelson Street and Bute Street is now a quirky pink cloud. 
Tiny single white—and pink—dots of plum blossoms throw confetti into the air and onto the ground. 
Late blooming witch hazel confuses my eye. Is it now a witch hazel blossom or the fruit of something else?
Viburnum bodnantense’s trumpet flowers grow in small clusters, pretending to be cherry blossoms. 
Forsythia is everywhere, bringing the joy of yellow to the scene, such a vibrant yellow that it splashes sunshine here and there.
Inflorescences of Pieris japonicus look festive.
Then there are the promises of “It won’t be long” made by fat, deep pink and paler pink and white buds of cherry blossoms: ‘Somei-yoshinio’, ‘Shirotae’, ‘Ojochin’, and ‘Akebono’. 
And everywhere, more maple trees wake up and stretch their tiny candlesticks of red leaves into the air, preparing to photosynthesize and turn the world into spring green.
Our clocks have gone forward. We’re ready to put our thick winter jackets away. Songbirds are chorusing in shrubs. Male pigeons are puffing themselves out and chasing female pigeons. Canada geese are grazing in pairs. And today, March 20, is the vernal equinox. It’s officially spring.
Photos and Text by Nina S., Vancouver Master Gardeners