Here, spring is dependent on our fall weather. The ground freezes here. There are many variations in frost patterns. The ground can freeze to a depth of 8 ft. Other areas only have a few inches of frozen soil. If we get snow cover that stays , there is not much frozen ground. An exposed area that has lots of traffic over it will freeze to a depth of 7 or 8 feet. South facing slopes and sheltered areas will have less ground frost. From year to year the depth of soil frost varies.
So the soil frost that starts in Oct. - Nov determines our spring and the beginning of plant growth. Of course, winter and spring weather also determine the kind of spring activity we have. The soil has to warm up before there's much plant activity. The frost seems to come out of the ground rapidly and then we have a very muddy soggy mess. Roads break up as the soil becomes unstable. As a result there are road bans (limits on load weights)until the frost is out of the ground.
I find many blog posts very interesting when they show spring weather and blooms. If there's no frost in the ground , the grass usually remains green even if it is covered by snow. In some areas the grass begins to grow rapidly when warmer spring weather arrives.
So the other day along with photos of geese , I also took some landscape photos which show what spring looks like here. We have a few sheltered south facing areas where grass has turned green but it's not growing. Native crocuses are in bloom. So some plants are well adapted to grow early in the spring as soon as some frost is out of the ground. Buds are swelling on trees. However, for the most part there is very little plant activity.
You can see from the photos that there is very little color. The spruce trees are more black than green. As soon as the frost leaves the ground , spruce trees turn green.
