The First Flower That LOOKS Like a Flower!

Just LOOK at those sunny little flowers, pushing up from the dead leaf litter to tell us that spring is here, for sure!  I found these delightful little Coltsfoot blooms in Saratoga's Congress Park today.  Yes, I know, we've seen Skunk Cabbage and American Hazelnut flowers already, but Coltsfoot is the first of the spring blooms that really looks like a flower, the kind we can draw with a yellow crayon, or pick and put in a vase for our moms,  or hold under our chins to cast a golden light that reveals we love butter -- just as we can do with Dandelions, the flower that Coltsfoot is very often confused with.  And also like the Dandelion,  Coltsfoot first came to American shores with the early European settlers, who planted both flowers in their gardens, Dandelions to serve as food and Coltsfoot as medicine.  Once used as a remedy for sore throats and cough,   Coltsfoot has more recently been determined to contain carcinogenic substances, so I can't recommend that you use it medicinally.  But I do recommend that you go enjoy the sight of some soon.  They may not cure your cough, but I'll bet they'll make you smile.