I'm posting this in February 2025, we've just come through a cold spell a couple of weeks long, now expecting some days above freezing. These views are from May 01, 2024. Timing depends on the year, last year was not early, but the native poplars start to show their catkins before almost any other native plants. Early willows start around the same time as the aspens or a bit sooner, and the very earliest herbaceous flowers might begin with the balsam poplars, but any visible activity from native plants has to be hunted for at that season. The balsam poplars have beautiful lipstick red catkins ( they lose their colour as they open and stretch)- one of the most beautiful wildflowers of the year, and maybe the most exciting display at the beginning of the season-if you get to see them, in most places they are high above the ground- in this spot there are lower branches, the only way I can get close views.