Spring is Here, Bartlett Pond, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Of all the ways to demonstrate that spring has truly arrived, nature could not have chosen a more dramatic contrast from the grays and browns of winter. The explosion of purple crocuses is, in my mind, the official announcement of spring.

They rise up from beneath a blanket of dead leaves and reach toward the sun.  Saffron, perhaps the world's most expensive spice, is derived from a variety of the crocus.