Spring in Nevada

It's starting to look like spring. I know, I know. I've said that before. But this morning when I took the dogs for their walk, I didn't have to bundle up and it sure was nice for a change.

The desert peach is now in blossom; it's a front runner of blooming things here. This color will last another couple of weeks and I can already see the bitter brush queueing up behind it with yellow bud nubs.

We walked to where the folks raise the wolves before turning around. Mim says she can always tell where I have taken my pictures. I'm sure she'll weigh in on desert peach too, since her farm is named for it, but she is still in the middle of the lambing season from hell.
Ian discovered that we have a new wildflower growing just inside the gate and had me walk up with him to see it a couple of weeks ago. It's been so cold, it has been in a semi-wilted state, huddling while waiting for warm. Today I could see the bracts had opened into flowers so I could identify it.
It's a shy wild flower, the blossoms hang their heads. It's called Brown's Peony, or paeonia brownii, and it appears there is more to come from this plant. Our book says, "As striking as the flowers may be in bloom, they are even more so in seed, for the pistils enlarge and enlarge until they're 2-4" swollen sausages. The weight of these amazing seedpods, even with the petals and stamens having fallen off the plant, is enough to pull the pods and sepals almost all the way to the ground." It's always exciting when a new-to-us wild flower appears. The California poppies that had seeded themselves up on the road didn't survive the winter. I was disappointed.
Look at my poor day lilies. They have wanted so badly to grow and they give it the collegiate effort, to be slapped back down by another cold spell. And they're supposed to get slapped down again over the next couple of days. We are so close to being out of firewood and now it looks like we'll be using our last twigs.