16 Things All Southern Girls Know and Love About Spring in the South

There’s only one time of year that we can don our wide-brimmed hats and sip on sweet Mint Juleps. We’re already counting down the days until this year’s Carolina Cup and Kentucky Derby.

Asparagus, carrots, beets, fennel, mint, peas, and all kinds of leafy greens come in season in the Springtime. We love using the season’s bounty to brighten up our vegetable side dishes, like this Lemony Green Bean Pasta Salad.

Namely, strawberries (but lemons and kumquats also peak during the spring). Maybe we get so excited about strawberry season because it gives us a reason to whip up a Strawberry Dream Cake.

The list of flowers that bloom in the spring is practically limitless. Some of our favorites include peonies, hyacinths, dahlias, tulips, roses, cherry blossoms, daffodils, azaleas, Japanese magnolias, and dandelions.

Across Louisiana and Mississippi, it’s not springtime until the first batch of boiled crawfish is spread out over a newspaper-covered table. And when we’re not enjoying them freshly boiled, we’ll take ‘em in bisque, dip, and étouffée form.

Spring is the setting for some of the South’s best fests, including New Orleans’ Jazz and Heritage Festival, Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Music Festival, and Gulf Shores’ Hangout Fest.

Nothing soothes a Southern girl’s soul like sipping sweet tea under a shady tree, gossiping with the gals.

Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Memorial Day, and Mothers’ Day all fill the spring season with excuses for casual and colorful celebrations.

Spring Cleaning might seem like a daunting task to some, but a closet refresh is exactly what we need once a year.

Southern girls live for sundress season. It’s a good thing we just cleaned out our closets – all the more room to fit a few new, breezy sundresses and sandals.

This activity combines every activity near and dear to a Southern girl's heart: eating, drinking, and socializing. The minute restaurants turn off those outdoor heaters, you can bet we’ll request an outside table. Why even ask?

Our porch swings were made for springtime perching.

Aka, driving around with the windows rolled down, blaring “Cowboy Take Me Away.”

On a super-cool, retro-inspired bike that will turn heads (and corners).

Get the Huffy Cruiser Bike on amazon.com.

Give us a cup of boiled peanuts, a ball cap, and a sunny day and all is well.

Long after we've graduated from school, come April each year, we Southern girls find ourselves planning a road trip down to white sandy beaches or up to a relaxing lake.