Quoted: How Do You Know it’s Finally Spring?

If there’s one place to be for a bee-a-utiful bloom-filled spring, it’s Raleigh! Here’s how five buzzy locals know that spring is back for good.
by Melissa Howsam

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

“We gardeners and farmers can feel the natural change in the weather: Moist air, birds romancing and those longer days tells us: we got this. But, be forewarned: Not until our last frost date, around April 15, should we direct sow or plant our warm-season annuals, including veggies; a frost may be lurking, even though we are wearing shorts!”

Mark Weathington, director of the JC Raulston Arboretum

“The sign that spring has really and truly arrived for me is when our native redbuds start blooming in earnest. Every year I make a point of driving west on I-40 to 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?” 

Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, founder/CEO of Bee Downtown 

“We know it’s spring when the Earth begins to wake back up from its slumber and the bees start buzzing! It’s an incredibly special time of year for Bee Downtown because 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.”

Rufus Edmisten, co-host of  WPTF Weekend Gardener

“I know it’s 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.”

 

Vicki Corporon, president of the Raleigh Garden Club

“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.”