#spring wildflowers

[peeptheaesthetic]

Aesthetic April Day 10: Spring aesthetic.

[the-ablest-navigators]

Poem for today:

Dear March -- Come in --

How glad I am --

I hoped for you before --

Put down your Hat --

You must have walked --

How out of Breath you are --

Dear March, Come right up the stairs with me --

I have so much to tell --

I got your Letter, and the Birds --

The Maples never knew that you were coming -- till I called

I declare -- how Red their Faces grew --

But March, forgive me -- and

All those Hills you left for me to Hue --

There was no Purple suitable --

You took it all with you --

Who knocks? That April.

Lock the Door --

I will not be pursued --

He stayed away a Year to call

When I am occupied --

But trifles look so trivial

As soon as you have come

That Blame is just as dear as Praise

And Praise as mere as Blame --

(Emily Dickinson)

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

What's poppin' in late February: Part 2 of ~7

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea) Periwinkle (Vinca minor) Ivy-Leaved Speedwell (Veronica hederifolia)

[rjzimmerman]

This tiny flower teaches us all we need to know about growing old. (Washington Post Opinion)

For most of my life, I marked the progress of spring by its blooms. First came the crocuses of February and the daffodils of March, followed, in quick succession, by the tulips and hyacinth, the lilac and flowering cherry and the saucer magnolias. Later, the azaleas would explode in a pink and red riot — and, before long, the peonies would unfurl to proclaim the approach of summer. Each arrival announced itself with a spectacular burst of color and, often, a sweet perfume that filled the yard.

But lately I’ve come to share the view of Wendy Cass, the head botanist at Shenandoah National Park, when she sees a waving clump of daffodils.

“Boring,” she says.

What I had been watching all those years was spring as humans made it. This year, I’m experiencing spring as God made it.

Those tulips, lilacs and all the rest were imported from Europe and Asia, curated and genetically manipulated by humans so they would grow with no effort and display improbably sweet and showy blooms. They are beautiful, no question, and I will always smile when I see a host of golden daffodils as Wordsworth did, “Beside the lake, beneath the trees/ Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

But this year, I’ve instead been walking in the still-bare forest and looking for Dutchman’s breeches.

In case you are wondering why some European left his pants in the woods, let me explain that the Dutchman’s breeches is my new favorite flower. Its bloom, just a half-inch tall, looks like an upside-down pair of white pantaloons, belted at the waist with a yellow rope. Native to this part of the eastern United States, it’s one of the first wildflowers of spring, popping up in late March or early April, flowering for a couple of weeks and disappearing as quickly as it came. Its entire growing season — from the time its first green shoot emerges from the earth to the moment its last bit of green foliage dies for the year — is just a couple of months.

Yet so much life comes from those delicate trousers. It’s one of the first foods in the forest after a long winter, and a crucial bit of sustenance for the queen bumblebee. When she emerges from her overwintering nest in the ground (the other bees die during the winter), she stretches her long tongue into the Dutchman’s breeches to reach its nectar, which nourishes her as she lays the eggs that will replenish the colony with the next generation of workers.

The Dutchman’s breeches are part of a class of plants felicitously known as “spring ephemerals.” They appear on the forest floor before the trees have leafed out, taking advantage of the sunlight. They flower, go to seed and die back within just six to 12 weeks. These are flowers you generally won’t find at florists: They are bluebells and bloodroot, trout lilies and toothwort, spring beauties and rue anemone. They are joined by other flowers that, while not “true” ephemerals (their foliage lasts a bit longer), generally share the same category: the great white trillium, hepatica, star chickweed and mayapple.

They are notoriously difficult to cultivate, hard to transplant and even harder to grow from seeds. It can take seven years from the time a trillium seed is planted to the appearance of just one of its three-petal flowers. Ephemerals are finicky and fussy plants, growing only in forests and typically near streams. They aren’t as bold and colorful as garden-variety flowers, and most don’t even have a scent. You won’t spot spring ephemerals from your car window with an “ooh” and an “ah.” To find them, you have to go on a treasure hunt in the forest. Their flowers can be tiny — sometimes just a millimeter or two — and you could easily miss them if you don’t look carefully.

That is just the point.

[ainawgsdoutdoors]

Ephemeral spring wildflowers, my beloved

[whatnext10]

Beautiful Spring Flowers are Everywhere

Fleabane Duo Spring is most definitely here in Florida. The official beginning of spring isn’t for almost a week, but for the past couple of weeks our spring flowers have been popping up everywhere. There are beautiful patches of Drummond’s phlox lining our roadways now. They’ll get thicker before they begin to fade away, but already, you can’t miss them. There are also plenty of lyreleaf sage…

[woodsfae]

yellow bell wildflowers on a Montana mountainside, April 2, 2024

[picturetakingguy]

Welcome to Spring! 

The woods are full of round 2 of wildflowers.....violets(blue and yellow), and this little striped flower.  Some of the striped flowers are vivid and others are kinda  pale, but they are all so cool....I think they are called Claytonia Virginica.  

Nature is cool

[kenneturner]

Bee On Burroweed Among Ferns

Bee On Burroweed Among Ferns — Image by kenne Look, and you will see Pleasure in flowers today The desert loves spring. — kenne

[maureen2musings]

tamaratoader

[petitworld]

Meadow Creek House, Seattle, USA by Kelly Kilpatrick

[the-ablest-navigators]

White Trout Lily

White Trout Lily sepals from above

White Trout Lily.

What a lovely nod to spring.

(iPhone 8)

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

What's poppin' in late February: Part 4 of ~7

Erythronium umbilicatum - Trout Lily Antennaria plantaginifolia/parlinii - Pussytoes, Woman's Tobacco

Which species? I don't know, as both are plausible here and they're nearly identical. Leaning towards Parlin's bc of the look of those basal leaves, but some sources say they're one species anyway, so I'm close enough.

And once you get to looking at the ground, closely, to see all the lovely little flowers there, you also notice the things that are going to be lovely little flowers. The last photo is the basal leaves of Rattlesnake Hawkweed - Hieracium venosum. It'll bloom later.

Hawkweeds are a large group of asters that are easy to mistake for dandelions if you're not paying attention, as the flowers can look really similar. The leaves are different, though, and if you're not sure, check the stem: dandelions have a soft, hollow stem, while hawkweeds' stems are solid.

[expressions-of-nature]

Nature in Japan by Gudonjin AIZA

[ainawgsdoutdoors]

Went for a lovely spring walk this morning. The first of the spring wildflowers are just starting to bloom and the birds and frogs were singing!

I then came home and proceeded to bully Sven by not letting him get on the couch. Because someone decided to go swimming in the lake without permission *cough*Sven*cough*

[whatnext10]

Roundleaf Bluet is a Beautiful, but Often Overlooked Flower

Roundleaf Bluet is a Beautiful, but Often Overlooked Flower discusses these early springtime beauties, where they grow, and when they flower. It shows readers photos of these wildflowers in full bloom.

Roundleaf Bluet Flowers Spring is definitely here in north central Florida. Flowers are popping up everywhere, including the colorful Drummond’s phlox that our roadways are famous for. The phlox comes in a huge variety of colors, most of which are bright and highly noticeable, but they are hardly the only flowers beside our roads. One of the most overlooked of those are the roundleaf bluets…