SIGNS OF SPRING

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If there’s one place to be for a beautiful bloom-filled spring, it’s here. Five buzzy locals share how they know spring is back for good. —Melissa Howsam

The sign that spring has really The sign that t spri r ng g has really and truly arrived for me is when and truly arrived for me is when our native redbuds start blooming our native redbuds start blooming in earnest. Every year I make a in i earnest. Every year I make a point of driving west on I-40 to itfdii t I t experience the glorious gauntlet of redbuds that line the road just outside of Winston-Salem. I wonder how the other drivers manage to keep their eyes on the road?”

-Mark Weathington director, JC Raulston Arboretum

I know it's spring when bluebird mates prepare their nests; when daffodils, Lenten roses and japonica camellias burst into bloom; when the blossoms of star and tulip magnolia and a wide variety of fruit trees dazzle us with masses of color along their branches... and then blanket the Earth with their pastel petals, freed from their perches by spring breezes and rains.”

We gardeners and farmers can feel the natural change in the weather. Moist air, birds romancing and those longer days all tell us: we got this.”

-Helen Yoest Raleigh City Farm Advisory Council member; garden writer; founder of Bee Better Naturally

We know it's spring when the W We e know w it it's spr pri in ng g h wh w en n the h Earth begins to wake back up from Earth begins to wakeE th b be egi ig n ns s to o wa wake ke ba ack k up pu fro om m its slumber and the bees start buzzits slumber and the bees start buzz-r r a d the bees sta tart buzzing! It’s an incredibly special time ing! It’s an incredibly special ti imei dibl ili of year for Bee Downtown because f of ear f for B Bee Do ntonbecause it means we once again have the privilege and honor of spending days outside with our bees, enjoying all the gifts Mother Nature has to offer.”

-Leigh-Kathryn Bonner founder/CEO, Bee Downtown

-Vicki Corporon president, Raleigh Garden Club

I know it is finally spring when the magnificent cardinal perches outside my kitchen window to sing a beautiful song, the tiny crocus peeps out of the ground to say hello, the fussy daphne perfumes the whole yard... and the tax man cometh on April 15.”

-Rufus Edmisten co-host, WPTF Weekend Gardener