"Dirndl" means "girl" in Austria. (And apart from that the word is also used for traditional dresses as worn by girls.)
"Dirndlstrauch" (Cornus mas) is a wild bush/tree with edible fruits, very common in Lobau and a few other forests in the east of Austria but else not very common. And what you see here is a Dirndlstrauch flower.
So the "girl trees" are flowering again in Austria. They mark the beginning of spring - which in fact began already on twentieth of march, this year (that is, astronomical spring).
Apart from the Dirndlstrauch most of Lobau still is sleeping - but on the brink of beginning to grow, and flower. It was the first day in Lobau since my surgery, and it felt good. Nice to be back, it is.
Oh - and Cornus mas is late this year. Very late indeed. I don't know how long they are flowering already (being out the first day in weeks, as it is) but I guess certainly not more than a few days, a week max (as not even all flowers are yet open, on the few bushes I saw). Last year they were in full flower on eleventh of march already. But weather was also rather cold and wet so far, in this year's march, and very windy too. Thus we can expect vegetiation to stay behind last year a week or so, at least in early spring; it will catch up quickly later I guess as the wet weather provides perfect conditions for spring growth.
