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Here and There…Now and Then |
Crocuses
If snowdrops signal the end of winter, then crocuses signal the beginning of spring for me. None of the bulbs planted last fall have started to come up yet but that’s usual. Those planted two years ago are coming up and these, which were planted in the fall of 2006, are looking good.
The First Scilla
The white crocuses and this white squill started blooming yesterday. The binomial is Scilla mischtschenkoana which has to be in the running for the word with the most consecutive consonants. Anyway, it’s a pretty little thing. Some daffodils started blooming today, but I can only post one picture here, so you’ll have to wait. I have a feeling you’ll be getting sick of my flower pictures before too long.
Maple Flowers
These are tiny flowers, with stamens about a centimeter long. They are the flowers of a maple of some sort (I think) and they were beautiful in the afternoon sun.
Forsythia
The forsythia in our back yard started blooming today. It’s a day or two behind the bushes in our neighbor’s yard because it’s not in as much sun, but it’s still nice and bright when in bloom.
Pink Hyacinth
I’m not a big fan of hyacinths in general. They’re pretty enough but they smell quite awful. Some people like it, I guess but it’s too much for me. Anyway, they are pretty cheery in the garden.
Chionodoxa lucilae
I thought I’d try some extreme close-up shots today. I can’t say they are award winning pictures but after all, the challenge was to post a picture a day, not to win any awards. Anyway, Chionodoxa, or glory-of-the-snow, is one of my favorite flowers.
Tree Flowers
These are the flowers on a small tree. Not sure what. Adds a nice touch of yellow to the otherwise mostly brown woods, though.
Hyacinth
I thought I’d post another hyacinth photo, now that they are fully open. Julia, this one’s for you.
Daffodils
We’ve had some little daffodils out for a while but now all the larger varieties are starting to bloom. These were given to my by a good friend and were planted the fall after we moved into our house (2006) so they are well established and thriving.
Glowing Leaves
These newly emerged leaves were beautiful against the blue sky this afternoon. I sure love color.
Maidenhair Fern
My dad had a maidenhair fern growing for years and when we bought our first house I dug up a small bit from the edge. When we moved I took some from that and it’s now well established in our yard here. So, this is “dad’s maidenhair fern.” (Adiantum pedatum)
Adiantum pedatum (Northern Maidenhair Fern)
Ages ago my dad planted a maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) in his back yard. I think he dug it up somewhere or other but I’m not 100% sure of that. It grew quite well there and when we had our house in Gaithersburg he let me dig up a piece of it and plant it in our yard. I’m glad we did that because when my parents finally got an air conditioner in their house the condenser unit went where the fern had been. I dug up a piece from our house in Gaithersburg and kept it in a pot until we bought our current house (a year later), when I planted it here. It is thriving in a fairly sunny spot outside our dining room window.
Maidenhair Fiddlehead
The northern maidenhair fern, Adiantum pedatum, is one of the prettiest of our native ferns. It is widely spread throughout the eastern half of the United States north of Florida, as well as Ontario and Quebec in Canada. In the spring, reddish brown fiddleheads emerge from the ground and unroll in typical ferny fashion. The stems turn a glossy black providing a dark background to the lush, bright green foliage. The plant I have has had an interesting journey and I enjoy it’s connection to my dad, who had it growing in he back yard. From there a piece made it into our garden at our previous house, then some of that lived in a pot while we rented for a year, and it’s become very well established since we moved here almost ten years ago.
Frond of Maidenhair
I’m quite frond of ferns in general and of the northern maidenhair fern, Adiantum pedatum in particular. As I said less than a week ago, I think it is one of the prettiest of our native ferns. This is the same plant that I photographed then. I usually try not to post pictures of the same thing in the same season of the same year. That is, I might post pictures of daffodils each spring but I try not to repeat the same daffodil variety within one spring. But this photo is different enough that I think it’s justified. The fronds (that’s fern for leaves) are unrolling and the leaflets are starting to expand, opening out from the rachises. Quite dainty.
Snow Drops (Galanthus nivalis)
After taking the picture of the sparrow (see previous post) I headed back toward my van to get the rest of my things and go into the office. As I walked along the edge of the woods, it occurred to me that the snow drops (Galanthus nivalis) would be coming up soon, if they have not started already. I looked and sure enough, they are well on their way to blooming. It isn’t spring yet, but it’s coming and I know there are a lot of folks who are ready for warmer weather. I love the early spring ephemerals and this is one of the earliest.
Snow Drops (Galanthus nivalis)
Just under two weeks ago (see Thursday, February 08, 2018) I posted a picture of the snow drops (Galanthus nivalis) coming up at the edge of the woods around my office building. Now they are pretty much up, even if there haven’t quite reached their peak. When I got to work this morning I figured I’d spend a few minutes with them before heading inside. This time, when I got down on the ground to take the pictures, I thought ahead and got a blanket out of the car to lie on. Last time I got a bit spot of dirt on my shirt and more on my jeans. Today I managed to stay clean. Spring is just around the corner. Not saying we won’t have more snow. That can happen well into March or even occasionally April. But spring is definitely coming.
Pieris japonica
If you’re looking for signs of spring, you naturally are on the lookout for the early bulbs. As mentioned, the snow drops (Galanthus nivalis) are in bloom. The winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is just starting (although it is a corm rather than a bulb). But if you look higher and in the right place, you might see Japanese Andromeda (Pieris japonica) in bloom. This is beside the patio at Cathy’s mom’s house and it’s lovely. I grew up with this along the side of our neighbor’s garage, next to our driveway and I have vivid memories of swarms of bees all over it. It’s still a bit early for the bees, but the flowers are starting to open.
Eranthis hyemalis
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is blooming here. I only have two small plants but the seem to be growing a small amount each year. Mom has a nice, dense patch of them near the foot of the driveway and I love seeing them at this time of the year. They are in the family Ranunculaceae (the buttercup family) and are very reliable, very long lived little plnts. They are, I’m afraid, fairly slow to get established and I haven’t had huge success with them. Still, thase that did make it are here for the long haul.
Lenten Rose ‘Mango Magic’
The Lenten roses are just starting to bloom. This one, called ‘Mango Magic’, is the earliest of them (this year, at any rate). This one was planted in the fall of 2014 and it doing quite well. Another planted at the same time is taking its time getting going but seems to be doing better than last year. I have a bunch that Brady gave me that were being thrown away after being thinned out when she worked at Brookside Gardens. Those are nearly white. The largest of the Hellebores that I have, the first to be planted shortly after we moved here, is quite massive and has deep, wine-colored flowers in great profusion. I particularly like that one with the sun is shining through the petals.
Helleborus orientalis
This is the older Lenten rose I mentioned the other day (see Thursday, March 1, 2018). It was brought in a pot from our yard in Gaithersburg and lived in that pot for a year while we rented and until we moved into our current house. It was one of the first things we planted when we moved here so it’s quite well established. There is some bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) next to it that really needs to be moved so it doesn’t get smothered by this giant thing. This giant thing could also be split into three or four without doing it much harm. The hellebores are tough plants native to the Caucasus.