In this most grudging of springs, it all-too-often feels like the growing season is never going to get started. But, of course, if you look hard enough, you'll find some sure-fire signs that just might fill you with a subspecies of optimism. Here's definitely a big one, albeit in a tiny package. In our wildflower garden, we have patches of Bloodroot, a gloriously white-flowered spring stalwart—it's considered an ephemeral, but I've never found that description particularly apt, since Sanguinaria canadensis leaves hang around throughout the summer—whose appearance in April is always cause for joy. Today, post snow and rain, I found the first blooms poking their heads out of the leaf litter, and while there probably won't be enough true warmth any time soon to cause the flowers to throw caution—and the protection of their cold-weather jackets—to the still-chilly wind, the fact that I spotted two, with more soon to come, is balm for winter-weary eyes.