What happened to that little ditty I learned way back in elementary school about “March winds, April showers, help bring May flowers?” I guess that was long before our weather got wacky and morphed seasons together in such a nonsensical manner.

Here in Southeast Michigan, April’s weather was a rollercoaster of unusual up-and-down temps, high winds, lots of rain (sometimes torrential), an EF-1 tornado, then, on Sunday, April 19th, the weather folks advised us to cover up our plants as we would have a hard freeze that night.

Sure enough, on Monday morning, an icy-white glaze covered all the freshly shorn lawns. Even the dandelions, so plentiful and perky had been zapped – not to worry, they rallied back by day’s end! It was 30F (-1C), with a real feel of 23F (-5C) when I stepped out the door on Monday morning – sure, I didn’t need my snow boots, but I was wearing all my warm woolens, i.e. hat, gloves, sweats and a heavy coat when I left on my walk.

As I don’t have a garden, I did NOT have sensitive plants that needed covering up before this unwelcome frost, but, since frosty weather loomed, I decided to do a Sunday stroll in the ‘hood to check out the flowering trees and even the hardy bulb plants which had already emerged after temps in the 80s just a few days before! There’s never a dull moment weather-wise these days, that’s for sure!

Magnificent Magnolias don’t stand a chance in freezing temps.

My first stop out the door was standing beneath my neighbor’s Magnolia tree. It had just blossomed out and was beautiful, but, because it was a bit breezy, I watched the wind stripping the blossoms from the trees and dotting the grass with a sea of pink petals. I figured “best take a picture of this tree now before the rest of the blossoms are gone when you return from your walk.”

My next stop was Memorial Park.

I meandered over to this park, where I try to stop with the camera a few times during the Spring and Summer months. There are several raised garden beds maintained by volunteers of the City’s Garden Club. In the Spring, the early bloomers add some color to the park and in the Summertime the bright-orange Butterfly Weed is a magnet for pollinators like bees and butterflies.

I was lucky because there were Tulips galore, some with petals still closed up tight and others already opened up. Here a few of them.

A mixture of white and yellow Daffodils nodded their heads in the breeze.

Not to be outdone by the usual early bloomers, a row of tiny pink hearts peeked out between the leaves of a Bleeding Heart plant.

There were some dandelions at Memorial Park – not as many as I’d seen on my way over here though.

This cute black squirrel was munching on something …

… but, when it saw me, it looked at me expectantly. I could see it was a nursing mother. Umm – did I have “Peanut Lady” emblazoned on my forehead? Surely it wasn’t a squirrel from Council Point Park? Since I planned to visit my furry and feathered friends after taking flower photos, I had treats. I tossed it a few peanuts and it stayed there, unsure whether to come closer … nope, it was too skittish and I had to back up and walk away before it dashed over to check out its windfall.

I checked the trees for any nesting birds, even though I thought it was a tad early – no luck, so I headed out to the ‘hood to see what flowers were blooming there.

There were more Hyacinths like you see in the featured photo. After a Winter that didn’t want to quit and the blah landscape that followed, these bright pinks and purples were a sight for sore eyes.

These are Grape Hyacinths.

These dainty flowers are Periwinkles.

The last time I walked past these Hostas, they had just emerged from the ground – I was surprised how much they had grown.

Those ground-level Hostas were just the right height for the Cottontail bunnies in the ‘hood to enjoy. We have a large Cottontail living in the next-door neighbor’s yard, but it bolts every time I open the screen door, so there’s no use trying to get a photo of it.

Perhaps the Cottontails would like to congregate at this house … a dandelion-munching feast could be had and still enough dandelions left for dandelion wine! A friend’s mom used to brew up a batch every Spring and I always think of her when I see a mess o’ dandelions like this. How many dandelions would you guesstimate are here?

No ‘hood stroll would be complete without …

… wandering over to Winchester Avenue, especially in lieu of my recent post about this venue. This time of year, I try to get over there to see all the pink Tulips, but only a few were open. There are usually lots of pink Tulips, but perhaps they are different varieties, early versus late bloomers? I was content to see these two at the side of the house and …

… this Tulip with a whimsical stone bunny almost within sniffing and/or munching distance. (Wait – Tulips don’t smell, do they?)

It looked like this was a new frog settled amongst the mushrooms.

I noticed a new birdhouse, but no occupants yet. I will pop back here in a few weeks and see if it is occupied.

Suddenly it was déjà vu as a dark cloud was trying the monopolize the sky which had been blue with cottony clouds, just a few minutes earlier. Should I stay or should I go? I remember the last time I lingered too long here and got caught in a downpour. At least it had been warm that day – it was cold and rain was definitely not welcome. A sprinkling of colorful flowers to liven up the landscape was nice … a sprinkling of rain not so much!

I had toted along some peanuts and seeds, intending to make the Park my last stop, but the sky looked more ominous by the minute, so weenie that I am, I headed home.

“Wildlife” is definitely scarce when you opt for a walk in the ‘hood. If you’re lucky, you’ll hear a woodpecker drilling into a tree, but on this day, it was a sullen-looking American Robin posing near a tree.

I glanced upward, hopeful to see a nest I could monitor for chicks going forward, but nothing was there … yet. Robins like to build their nests in inopportune places sometimes, like the bend of a homeowner’s coach lights, or where the gutters and downspout meet as it provides the opportunity for a nest away from the drizzle, warm and dry to raise their chicks.

It wasn’t the most-stimulating, nor picture-laden walk I’ve ever taken, but it would suffice to get some flower photos before Mother Nature waved her Winter-like wand once again.

Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge this week is: “Bicycles and Biking (May is National Bike Month)” I will be linking this post to Terri’s “Flower Hour” and Pepper’s “One Step at a Time” later in the week.