Spring is now in full swing in central Florida. Every time I go out anywhere I see more wildflowers than I did the day before. Even our beautiful Drummond’s phlox is beginning to color the roadsides. There are also lots of bees, wasps, and butterflies flying around to pollinate those flowers. Just like the Carolina jessamine, dewberry flowers (Rubus trivialis) are one of the first ones to come up each year. Also like the jessamine, they don’t last very long. They very quickly become a bright reddish berry that looks and tastes similar to a blackberry or raspberry (they are quite closely related). This flower was one of quite a few that were spread alongside the path when I was hiking. It was my second flower for 2025, so I was very excited to see it. Now, less than two weeks later, there are flowers everywhere, the grass is getting green, and the insects are returning. Yes, spring, the season for new life and the renewal of life, is upon us.