March 1 as the beginning of "spring"

For those of us too impatient to wait for the vernal equinox, March 1 can be viewed as the first day of the meteorological spring.

Meteorologists generally define four seasons in many climatic areas: spring, summer, autumn (or fall) and winter. These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting three months. The three warmest months are by definition summer, the three coldest months are winter, and the intervening gaps are spring and autumn. Spring, when defined in this manner, can start on different dates in different regions. In terms of complete months, in most North Temperate Zone locations, spring months are March, April and May although differences exist from country to country.

At our latitude, unfortunately, the "botanical" spring is closer to the equinox.  In the meantime, I'll need to be satisfied with this old photo taken at the UW Arboretum last April, which popped up on my rotating screensaver this morning.  The tree is in the crabapple section of the arboretum, so it's probably a Malus of some type.  I would have loved to have had this tree available to me for climbing when I was a child.

(click once for bigger, twice for too big)