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Here and There…Now and Then |
Cherry Blossoms
We have two cherry trees in our yard. I’ve posted pictures of blossoms on the first of them already. They bloom out of sync with each other, which is actually nice because it lengthens the bloom time. The first has small, simple flowers. The second, which is blooming now, has very large, double flowers that are quite beautiful against the blue sky. It’s also gotten cool again so this tree’s flowers should stay with us a little longer than the first’s did.
Syrphid Fly (Toxomerus marginatus)
I went out into the empty lot next to my office again today. What a beautiful day it was, too. It’s not like summer yet but there was a fair amount of insect activity. I sought out some weeds that are flowering (yellow rocket, Barbarea vulgaris, also variously known as Bittercress, Herb Barbara, Rocketcress, Yellow Rocketcress, Winter Rocket, and Wound Rocket — which is why I like to stick to Latin binomials). After a little waiting, I was rewarded by the appearance on some nearby Shepherd’s-purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) of a syrphid fly. He (or she, I have no idea) moved to the yellow rocket and I got a few more pictures, including this one. I identified it, with the help of BugGuide, as Toxomerus marginatus.
Tarnished Plant Bug? (Lygus lineolaris)
Then I noticed another insect, some sort of plant bug (family Miridae) I think, on the next plant to my right. My guess is that this is Lygus lineolaris, the tarnished plant bug, but I’m waiting for confirmation (or correction). There are a lot of bugs that look similar to this.
Dogwood Flowers (Cornus florida)
Who doesn’t like dogwood flowers? One of my favorite sights is seeing dogwood blooming throughout the woods as a reliable, understory tree. It’s that time again.
I’ve always liked apple blossoms and I think I prefer them over cherry blossoms. I’m not sure why I like one over the other since they are both simple, five-petaled, white flowers on medium sized trees. I think I prefer apple trees to cherry trees, and maybe it has something to do with that. At Glen Orchard (a cousin’s orchard that’s been in the family for over a hundred years) they grow both apples and cherries but it’s the apple trees that surround the cabin and perhaps that’s the real source of my preference. The view from the cabin when the apples are in bloom is right up there in terms of beauty. When I see apple trees in bloom, particularly simple, white apple blossoms, I think of Glen Orchard and in turn of my grandparents.
Whatever it is, I love apple blossoms and they are out here now. The flowers pictured here are on a few feral trees growing in the empty lot next to my office building, down by the stream. They are very happy there and I’ll be sad when the time comes for that property to be built upon.
Green and Yellow
Not surprisingly, with all the flowers blooming, there are lots of bees about, from the humble but industrious bumble and carpenter bees to the flashy, green cuckoo wasp, they are all over both tree and weed. Mostly doing yeoman’s work pollinating flowers in their effort to collect their daily bread (so to speak), they add motion and even color to a static, if already colorful, scene.
I love bees.
[Update: this has been identified by the good people of BugGuide as genus Augochlorella. The yellow flowers are Barbarea vulgaris, which goes by various common names including yellow rocket and bittercress.]
Reflections, Again
Just over two months ago I posted a photo that I titled Reflections. It was the back entrance to the office building where I work and it was mostly a study in gray and brown. Well, this morning I was struck by how different it looks now, with blue and enough green to be quite cheerful. I reflected on the reflections and decided I’d take and post another picture.
Daffodil 'Actaea'
Myosotis (Forget-Me-Not)
Here are two flower pictures to welcome April, 2012. First, a really nice poeticus daffodil called ‘Actaea’ that are growing alongside our front walk. They are later than the big yellow ‘Marieke’ daffodils which is nice because we have blooms for a longer period that way. I really like the big, white petals on this one. There’s another variety with even better color on the edge of the cup but this one is pretty good.
Then, I have a picture of forget-me-not, one of the Myosotis species, but I’m not sure which. We have a large patch of these in the back yard and Cathy has just moved a few of them to the front under the cherry tree. Hopefully they will do as well there. The flowers are quite happy. I’ve only just realized this year how much blue we have in our garden.
Anemone blanda
Lots of things in bloom right now and I’ll put up a few more tomorrow but for now, here’s a little flower that I like. It is Anemone blanda ‘Pink Star’ and there are a few of them trying to compete with the gooseneck loosestrife, which will ultimately win unless something is done to protect the little ones.
Katie and Emily
It was history night at the lower school this evening and although Dorothy hasn’t taken part in five years, I wanted to go anyway. It’s a fun time and I love seeing the kids dressed in their various period costumes. Here are the two third grade teachers, Katie and Emily, hamming it up.
Hannah and Dorothy
Dorothy had a half day at school today. She and her good friend Hannah went out for lunch after school and I picked them up a little before 3:00. Hannah went with Dorothy to her art lesson and that’s where this picture was taken. Dorothy teacher buys silk to use in her art work and gave Dorothy the small scraps of silk used to tie up the pieces, which is what Dorothy’s using as a mustache.
Flowering Almond
We have this little flowering almond in our front garden. It never seems to get bigger than about four feet and it died to the ground a few years ago. This winter was milder than average so it’s doing quite well. Maybe it will do better this year. Anyway, it has very double flowers about half an inch across which are quite lovely. Imagine a tree full of these.
Wilted Tulip
The forecast was for a frost overnight and our thermometer read 27°F this morning. The ground is warm and I don’t expect any significant damage to plants and flowers in the yard. This tulip, the only one of ours that is actually blooming so far, didn’t appreciate the cold, though.
Redbud Slippers
I’ve always thought that Redbud (Eastern Redbud, in this case, Cercis canadensis) is misnamed. On the other hand, neither Purplebud nor Pinkbud sound quite right. I never noticed before how much these little flowers look like pink slippers, though. Pretty neat.
<em>Anthrenus verbasci</em><br />(Varied Carpet Beetle)
I wasn’t particularly pleased to find this tiny beetle in my house today. It is a varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci and it is quite small (those are millimeter markings on the ruler next to it). Fairly common, apparently, I had never seen one before. Not as bad as finding termites, perhaps, or even having a problem with wool eating moths, it’s still not something you want when you have “treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy.”
Lucky Cat
We moved the new aquarium into the kitchen today and got it situated. As you can see, it doesn’t have any water in it yet, that will come. For now, it’s home to a lucky cat and some Clementines.
…It’s Raining Violets (and cherry blossoms, bloodroot, kale, periwinkle, spiraea, and forsythia, among many other things. Here are some examples, along with water droplets on blades of grass. Surface tension is a wonderful thing.
Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea)
Last year I planted an Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) in a shady part of the front yard. It’s doing well and leafing out and I like the lines of the emerging leaves.
Scilla siberica var Spring Beauty
The flowers have been nice so far this spring and they keep on coming. I didn’t plant as much scilla as some of the other things and now I’m wondering why. It’s a pretty little thing. Siberian Squill, Scilla siberica var Spring Beauty.
Cherry Blossoms
Well, they are mostly out and looking good. This is one of the two cherries in our yard. The other hasn’t started to come out yet, which is actually nice because it means we get a longer period of bloom.
White Flowers
I like this picture. To me, although its a fairly good likeness of these flowers, it actually makes it hard to see what they are. It’s the size, I guess. the photo makes them look big to me, like they are camelias or something. Actually, they are each about 3/8 inch across. It is a spirea in our back yard.