For Claude Monet, color was a “day-long obsession, joy and torment.”

I have been feeling the same way lately, longing for the color that provides the proof that spring is really here with its profusion of flamboyant flowers. Last week, my wishes came true when color came out in full force.

First and foremost, there was yellow. Yellow appeared in stunning displays, and satisfied my hankering for hues, showing itself everywhere. The sun led the charge by shining its golden rays. Flowers did not forsake us either. Daffodils debuted, lovingly described by A. A. Milne in his poem daffodowndilly: She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,

She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
“Winter is dead.”

Out with winter and in with more yellow. Forsythia flourished and dandelions bloomed, beckoning the buzzy bees, all in their golden glory. And don’t count out the goldfinches that flashed their buttery bits as they fed at our feeders.

Yellow is perhaps the first color of spring and is produced (as all colors are) by pigments. Color is a necessity for plant survival. Providing more than beauty, color allows for reproduction since its function is to attract the pollinators necessary for plants to breed.

Two major classes of pigments provide flower and other plant colors — carotenoids and flavonoids. Carotenoids include carotene and xanthophyll and produce yellow, orange, and red colors. They are well known for giving carrots and peppers their bright beauty. Anthocyanin, chalcones, and other pigments are flavonoids and deliver the red, purple, magenta and blue blossoms. And of course, most of us know that the pigment chlorophyll produces green.

The brightness of color in plants can be affected by other factors. Heat can dull, while cool encourages vividness. And stressors such as drought, insects, and nutrient deficiency will lessen the power of pigment.

But back to yellow. Yellow really does make us feel good. German poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe wrote on the nature of colors and how humans perceive them. He observed: “We find from experience that yellow excites a warm and agreeable impression . . . The eye is gladdened, the heart is expanded and cheered, a glow seems at once to breathe toward us.”

Symbolism of color tells us that yellow represents friendship, filial love, trust, compassion and respect. However, the dark side of yellow provides for cowardice, jealousy, avarice, and envy. And jaundice is never good for health, nor do we want to count on yellow journalism to keep us informed.

Yellow won’t be alone for long. Next up will be the greens as leaves unfurl, and the reds of maple buds which have begun to burst up Island. English writer Leigh Hunt said: “Colors are the smiles of nature.”

As other hues join in, yellow remains special for its early nature and for its necessity. And while there is no reason to be blue, lovers of the sky and sea must also appreciate yellow because as Vincent Van Gogh noted: “There is no blue without yellow and orange.”

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature.