Winters are long – full of early sunsets and snowy days. The arrival of spring brings with it a celebration of nature and is the perfect time to explore Milford’s wild spaces. From Eisenhower Park to Mondo Ponds, nature surrounds our schools, shops, and homes, finally beginning to show itself in March and April.
Spring is the perfect time to appreciate nature and the mundane but still shockingly beautiful aspects of life that might otherwise be taken for granted. In the spring, people often spend lots of time outdoors, feeling a newfound sense of wonder at how incredible it can be to sit outside on a sunny day or sniff a sweet-smelling flower. While spring is primarily seen as a period of rebirth and new life, it also means the end of winter and the loss of many cozier times. It is due to this that spring is so important to appreciate – it is a time to step away from the past and into the future.
Grape-hyacinth flowers bloom in a sunny area on April 7, 2024, in Milford, Connecticut. These flowers are beautifully colored, grow from bulbs similar to garlic, and – while not edible when eaten without preparation – are even edible.
A vernal pool in Eisenhower Park and the surrounding landscape on April 8, 2024, in Milford, Connecticut. A vernal pool is created from excess rain or snowfall, and while they often dry in the summer, they fill again each spring.
A daffodil before it blooms, symbolizing the potential that the new season offers on May 29, 2024, in Milford. Daffodils are some of the most common flowers that can be found in the gardens of people around Milford, but their brilliant yellow appearance can also be found in the forest or in fields around town.
A daffodil blooms next to a strip of forest on April 2, 2024, in Milford, Connecticut. Through time, the full bud pictured above becomes an open flower much like these, tinted a bright yellow the likes of which is rarely seen in nearby nature.
Sun shines through the branches of a tree freshly emerged from the wintertime on Saturday, April 7, 2024, in Milford, Connecticut. The tree is located in Eisenhower Park, a popular place to walk in Milford with a variety of quiet paths to choose from.
From amongst a bed of discarded leaves, a tuft of ramps emerges from the ground on April 7, 2024. Ramps is one of the few native plants that find a home in Milford early in the year, helping the other plants native to the area to thrive.
A patch of vibrant purple crocuses spreading up towards the sun on April 1, 2024, in Milford, Connecticut. Crocuses are one of the first flowers that bloom once the weather gets above freezing, so seeing one is knowing that spring will be here soon.
An abandoned wreath lies in the grass outside a home on Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Milford, Connecticut. The months-old decoration is strewn in the grass, symbolic of the passing of winter months and the coming of warmer weather.
The first signs of a rose grow from a colorful branch on April 7, 2024. The growths will continue to form the beginnings of blossoms until the bush begins to flower in late spring or early summer.
An incredibly striking magnolia tree’s foliage as the sun begins to go down behind the Milford Academy on April 2, 2024, in Milford, Connecticut. Petals from the tree carpet the ground, showing that this herald of spring will last only until early May.
