Baby Boom — Birds Bugs Buds

It happens every year -- the little ones arrive. I'm not speaking of tots pushed in strollers, but rather youngsters emerging from tree branches.

Leaves in spring tend to play second fiddle to flower blooms, and often need to wait until fall for everyone to gush about their beauty.

Admittedly, I didn't fully appreciate their springtime beauty until I moved to New York nearly 25 years ago. During my first Manhattan spring, I was enthralled with the tiny leaves, amazed by their brightness. Maybe it was the juxtaposition of new growth in an urban setting -- the city seemed to be covered in an explosion of little puffs of lime green, yellow green and chartreuse, darkening as the weeks progress.

And their size! As with babies, puppies and ducklings, young leaves are irresistible with their diminutive features.

Just like flower blossoms, the time to enjoy baby leaves is short. Their cells begin to expand and the leaves grow. The larger leaves produce wonderful summer shade, that morph into fall color. And as they drop in the winter, I will once again be thinking of those green puffs of spring.