Monthly Archives: May 2013

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

I am particularly fond of little flowers and these are very nice little flowers. Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is quite a tenacious little plant.

Years ago a street was being widened near where we lived. Two houses were condemned via eminent domain and were to be torn down. We got permission from the owners of one of the houses to take out as many garden plants as we could before they were all dug up for the roadway (we called it “plant rescue”). There was a fairly large patch of lily of the valley growing around a tree. The asphalt paving of the driveway would have been a boundary for most plants but the lily of the valley came up through the asphalt, breaking it up and thriving in spite of the difficult growing conditions. They can take a little while to get established but once they do, they are practically unstoppable.

We must have dug up hundreds of plants and gave them to anyone who wanted them. Considering that they often cost more than $2 per pip, this was a valuable collection effort. We dug up a few from our yard when we moved and brought them with us but there was a patch in the back yard already. This picture is of one in that patch.

Trees Reflected in My Office Building Windows

Today’s picture is very much like some I’ve taken before but I find it pretty, in a simple sort of way. This is the back entrance into my building, reflecting the trees in the parking lot. It’s a fairly green place this time of year, which is nice. I particularly like it early in the morning when the sun is shining over the building, so the glass is in the shade but it is reflecting trees that are in the sun.

I find it interesting how different this view is throughout the year. In the winter it tends to be fairly gray. In the fall, it is brown and yellow, and now, of course, it is green. I find it interesting that in general our eyes are most sensitive to light round about the 550nm wavelength, which is the green portion of the visible spectrum. Does that mean we recognize more shades of green than of other colors? I’m not sure but there certainly does seem to be more variety in the greens all around us.

Black Walnut Leaves and Catkins

Continuing the leafy theme, today’s picture features the young leaves and the flower catkins of a black walnut tree. The leaves practically glow in the early afternoon sun. The catkins, on the other hand, are doing their best to contribute to the spring allergy season. Black Walnut pollen is a severe allergen. The good news is that it’s fairly large, as pollen goes, so it doesn’t travel terribly far in the air, so unless you have walnut trees in your yard or immediate neighborhood, you’re probably out of the woods, so to speak.

Poison Ivy

It’s a very green time of the year. After two wet mornings and two pictures of green leaves with water droplets on them, today’s picture is of leaves but without water droplets. It was a beautiful, seasonally pleasant day, with a high temperature of about 74°F (23°C) and clear, blue sky.

This morning Cathy called to ask if I wanted to take a walk around the block later. We met outside my building at about 12:45 and walked around the block, which is about a mile and a half. I stopped for pictures a few times, including taking a couple of these vigorously growing poison ivy leaves. It’s a pretty good survivor and aside from the obvious drawback of the irritating nature of the oil it contains, it’s quite pretty in a sinister sort of way. I like the mix of orange in the leaves and the glossy surface. I also like the beautiful colors poison ivy turns in the fall. Still, I won’t be adding it to my garden any time soon. In point of fact, I have some already that needs to be sprayed.