A mere day or two after I spotted the first Crocus blooms at a well-situated, south-facing, heat-absorbing-and-releasing foundation, I was blessed with the debut of our Crocus flowers at a west-facing, shady spot at least a yard from any source of additional heat and protection. So we don't get the ridge award for earliness... so be it. Whatever motivates these garden delights to blossom extra early, these tidy and mostly small plants, which are native to a wide swath of southern and central Europe and Asia, have begun to put on a show that will, depending on the variety, last for at least a few more weeks. Soon enough, the flowers will provide "manna" for the first bees and flower flies to emerge from winter sleep. My daily walk around the home turf will now include stops to look for the first signs of pollinating insects.