Pasqueflower, Pulsatilla patens 

Dude! Long time no see! Whassup! How you doing? How was your winter?

Spring Beauty, Claytonia lanceolata

Damn, almost blew right past you. Inexcusable. Sacrilegious. Thanks for helping me extract my head, if only briefly, from my own ass. I need all the help I can get.

Shortstyle Bluebell, Mertensia brevistyla 

Mind if I drop to hands and knees and give you a sniff? Would that be weird? My nose doesn’t have to, like, actually touch you. I could maintain a buffer of, say, two inches. Promise not to sneeze.

Sagebrush Buttercup, Ranunculus glaberrimus 

Months of snowy fields and overcast skies, months of white and gray, white and gray, white and gray—and now, suddenly, your pop and pizzazz. It’s true, I’ve been a little depressed. Not because of the gloomy weather. Because of, well, everything. Life. But you are life too. Yes, you are life too.

Mountain Candytuft, Noccaea fendleri 

Two in a day! Two in a day! Two new species in a day! This is my Two-in-a-Day Dance—do you like it? It’s a mix of the Macarena and the Charleston. A hint of the Nae Nae thrown in for good measure.

Glacier Lily, Erythronium grandiflorum 

I want to eat you. I want to put you in my mouth, like a black bear. Can I be honest? I’ll be honest. I’ve eaten you in previous years. I’ve added you to salads. Your leaves are sweet and your petals are spicy. Piquant? I’ll have to look that up in the dictionary when I get home. I’m working superhard not to eat you. This is difficult. I ought to walk away before I do something rash. Go microwave a burrito. Drink a tall glass of milk.

Nelson Larkspur, Delphinium nuttallianum

Guess what? Today is my sister’s birthday. Thousands of miles from here, she’s closing her eyes, leaning toward the cake, making a wish. I’m going to stare at you really intently—don’t be creeped out—and send her a picture via telepathy.

Yellow Prairie Violet, Viola nuttallii 

Are you familiar with P!nk, the musician? She’s got a song from a while back that loops in the boombox of my brain when I’m near you. I think it should be your theme song. It goes—ahem—“I’m comin’ up so you better get this party started!”

Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale 

People are humongous a-holes. Calling you a weed. Spraying you with poison. I honor you. I celebrate your vibrant and passionate and full-tilt way of existing. I’m not ashamed. In fact, with your permission, I will rub you all over my face and proudly march through town.

Rock Jasmine, Androsace septentrionalis 

According to my field guide, you’re nicknamed “fairy candelabra.” Such a magical combination of words! It shrinks me somehow. Saying it aloud—fairy candelabra, fairy candelabra—I’m transported to a tiny world. To this world. To your world.

Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza sagittata 

Phenology is the study of cyclic natural phenomena, the rhythms and patterns of place. Henry David Thoreau was obsessed. Ditto Aldo Leopold. The ecophilosopher Paul Shepard once wrote that phenology engenders “a deeper understanding and more refined sense of mystery.” I have notes from last spring. They’re jotted on a calendar. You bloomed six days earlier. Mystery indeed.

Ballhead Waterleaf, Hydrophyllum capitatum 

Who pollinates you? Bees? Butterflies? Ants? How does that feel? I’m not trying to pry into your sex life. I respect your privacy. But if it is ants, I mean, come on—that’s kinky!

Mountain Parsley, Cymopterus lemmonii 

Konnichiwa!

Western Red Columbine, Aquilegia elegantula 

Namaste.

Snowball Saxifrage, Saxifraga rhomboidea 

Bonjour.Non, madame, je vous assure, le plaisir est pour moi.

Wild Strawberry, Fragaria virginiana 

It will happen. Later this summer, I will be that black bear I’ve always yearned to be. I will crawl forward and extend my lips for a kiss and slurp and chomp and digest you. Your seeds will stick in my teeth. I will not floss. I will never floss again.

Long-plumed Avens, Geum triflorum 

You remembered! I can’t believe you actually remembered! Nobody remembers anything anymore. Everybody is distracted and lost and confused and sad and angry and dizzy and derelict and forgetful. But you. Wow. You really did remember the vow we made a year ago—to meet here, today, right now!