Daffodil

This is a very pretty daffodil that always blooms reliably and joyfully each spring in front of our house. I don’t know the name of the variety because I was given the bulbs by a friend and if I ever had the name, I’ve lost it. I don’t much care, because they are so festive. They are in Division 3, the small-cupped daffodil cultivars and should probably buy more in that division. If I remember at the right time, I’ll plan on this fall being a big year for planting more bulbs. One problem, of course, is knowing where there already are bulbs, because the leaves are generally gone by planting time, and I hesitate to dig in the areas where I know they are. Maybe I can mark them with small stakes before they are gone from sight.

Chionodoxa forbesii

The bulbs are up all over the yard and it’s wonderful. This is one of my favorites and I have a good bit of it. It’s Chionodoxa forbesii and it’s growing up through the pachysandra around an oak tree near the end of our driveway. I have a variety called ‘Pink Giant’ growing nearby and it’s pretty, as well, but for some reason I don’t like it as much. Perhaps it’s because pink flowers are relatively so much more common, while blue flowers are a special treat.

The blue in the flowers seems to vary from year to year. This year they seem a bit paler than they did last year. Not that I’ve compared photographs, though, so maybe that’s just my imagination. Scilla is certainly bluer than Chionodoxa. It’s also easier to pronounce. But I’ll take them both. I need to plant more, in fact. But that’s a job for October.

Still Life with Acorn Cap

I met with about a dozen junior girl scouts this evening to talk about photography. They were working on their photography badge and needed someone to give them a lesson. I really wasn’t sure how much detail to go into and probably went farther than I needed to. They seemed interested, though, and were very attentive and polite. I had a big stack of pictures to illustrate the things I was telling them about shutter speed and aperture. The pictures were probably more useful than my descriptions. After my presentation, we all went out back to see what we could find to photograph. This is one of the pictures I took, a still life of an acorn cap.

Magnolia stellata (Star Magnolia)

Dorothy and I went up to Baltimore this afternoon and spent it with our dear friend, Julia. We walked around the campus and enjoyed the things that are starting to bloom, including this star magnolia (Magnolia stellata). Many years, probably more often than not, the buds on the star magnolias are killed by a late frost. We had a few late frosts this year, cold enough to do the job, but fortunately we hadn’t had enough days that were warm enough to get the buds close to opening, so it wasn’t a problem. They really are beautiful small trees the years they do bloom and they seem to be doing very well this year. This one is in front of a south-facing, brick wall, which probably gives it a little more heat and provides a bit more protection.

Daffodils

Once again I find myself way behind in posting pictures. I will endeavor to get caught up over the next two days. This photo was taken on April 1, six days ago, and finally copied off my camera’s memory card and “processed” yesterday. The daffodils have come out here in Maryland and yellow is the color of the day. Actually, in our yard, only the smallest and earliest variety has started to bloom. The others are showing buds but we’re at least a week from them blooming. Ours are on the side of the house that faces northeast, of course, and they are in shade much of the day. These are at my mom’s, actually in the next door garden, where they have a westward exposure.

Maple Blooms

After such a chilly, dreary weekend, today dawned clear, bright, and warm. It was up near 60°F (16°C) this afternoon and Cathy and I took a walk. It was quite wet out today in low spots which are slow to drain and dry out. I took some pictures of standing water but decided to post this picture of maple flowers, which are starting to come out everywhere. They are small and individually are not too much to look at, but they give the trees a wonderful, happy, crimson hue.

Daffodil ‘Tete-a-Tete’

It was a very spring-like day today, raining throughout. I think everyone was so thankful that it wasn’t snow that they were willing to put up with the rain for a bit. Yesterday was such a beautiful day, though, that it was a bit dreary today. On the other hand, the daffodils have started to show a bit of yellow. They are not quite open yet, but that’s a flower and it’s a welcome sight. I did get a bit damp photographing it, as you might imagine, but it’s worth lying in the rain when the flowers are starting to open.

Purple Crocuses

Six days ago I posted a picture of the first crocus blooming in our yard. Three days later, we had a significant snowfall, covering the ground under a coating of white. I think we often forget how tough most of our spring-blooming bulbs are. We often associate bulbs with Holland and many cultivars were developed there. But many of them have roots (no pun intended) in much harsher climates. Many of them come from the steppes of central Asia where winter temperatures are much lower than they ever get here. So, when something as insignificant as a late March snowfall covers them, they seem to laugh it off and are ready to continue blooming when the snow is gone.