Coltsfoot

The first wildflower of the Spring has been popping up.  Coltsfoot is always the earliest flower and is an odd plant, as the flower blooms before the rest of the plant ever emerges form the ground.  It grows in the worst possible soil, right on the edges of gravel roads.  It seems to thrive in the worst areas and harshest weather, yet never does well if cultivated.  As soon as the weather gets nice and growing conditions improve, these flowers will disappear in favor of a nondescript little plant; one of the indecipherable bits of green on the edge of the road.  I love plants like this, the ones that do best when times are hard and keep popping up every Spring in spite of our attempts to eradicate them.  I have never understood why they are considered weeds either, they are a small, healthful, edible plant, harmless in all ways.  Good for man, beast and honeybee.   The next time you drive by a bit of gravely, weedy ground, say hello to the Coltsfoot and enjoy the sight of a little yellow flower growing where nothing should.