Last March I took a trip with my best friend to New Orleans. I’ll never forget taking that first walk around the city after arrival—the sun was out, people were wearing shorts, and the flowers were blooming. A week down south during the spring was just what I needed. It reminded me of the springs I spent in Virginia before I moved here twenty-five years ago. While the rest of the year I wasn’t thrilled to live below the Mason-Dixon line, spring made up for the blistering hot summers and the snowless winters. I can vividly remember returning from the hospital after my daughter was born in Williamsburg in April 2001. The irises were blooming and the tulips were already fading. I don’t think that little newborn ever wore long sleeves or long pants until we moved up north to the Rochester area.
While upstate New York springs are a little less dramatic, they are lovely in their own right. Just read Bonnie Warriner’s article about spring ephemerals; it will surely get you excited by the region’s delicate, pretty little plants and flowers that remind us that the snow is gone, and we can bask in the sunshine once again.
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2026 issue of Upstate Gardeners’ Journal.
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