Crocuses

Prairie crocuses or Pasque flowers are one of the sure signs of spring in Saskatchewan. They're definitely the first flowers we see, often poking through the snow and frost.

Technically, they aren't crocuses, which are in the lily family, they are actually anemones, in the buttercup family. What's more, the petals aren't actually petals, they're modified sepals. Of course, we also have gophers which aren't gophers (they're ground squirrels), rabbits that aren't rabbits (they're hares), and daddy longlegs spiders that aren't spiders (although they are arachnids).

I first went to look for the crocuses on Monday. If I take an alternate, slightly longer, walk to work I go right by one of the places where they grow. Although they're not uncommon, they're somewhat picky about where they grow. I didn't find any flowers, but I did find the plants starting to grow and the flowers developing. There was dew on the ground that morning which made for interesting photographs.



I love how the crocuses emerge from the dead grass and vegetation.





I went again on Wednesday to see how they were coming and there were a few flowers open. I was visiting early in the morning, and the flowers close up at night, so it's likely there were more flowers open midday. By Friday most of the flowers were out.  It seems like a good crop this year.



I'm a sucker for back light, and the low early morning sun was perfect for highlighting the flowers and their furry covering. (Some of the back lit shots I used the flash so I didn't just get silhouettes.)





I've taken so many crocus photos over the years that it's hard to come up with a new angle. I used my macro lens this year and was playing with closeups and depth of focus and even a little focus stacking.





Apparently, individual plants may live for 50 years or more. However, they depend on unplowed prairie so as that dwindles, so may the wild crocuses.

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