“Spring work is going on with joyful
enthusiasm.”
~ John Muir
~1838-1914
What a joyful sight to see these
early bloomers enthusiastically reach toward the rays of the evening sun on the
second day of spring ~ March 21, 2021 ~ spring has finally sprung after a long
winter!
These lavender Early Spring Crocuses
were showing off their simple beauty in the early evening along the Ironton
Rail Trail,
which loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of
Coplay and North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.
Because of their very early bloom
time, these blooming crocuses are often considered the first sign of spring, a
cheery welcome to warmer weather!
Growing from bulb-like structures called corms, crocuses are
low-growing perennial plants from the Iris family. They can often be seen peeking
up through the snow well before any other flowers appear on the landscape. Bloom
colors on the tube-shaped flowers include mauve, lavender, and yellow.
The Ironton Railroad was a shortline
railroad in Lehigh County. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and
limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to
carrying Portland Cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20th
century. Much of the railroad had already been abandoned when it became part of
Conrail in 1976, and the last of its trackage was removed in 1984.
In 1996, Whitehall Township
purchased 9.2 miles of the right-of-way from Conrail, transforming it into the
Ironton Rail Trail.
