Some of our terrestrial wildflowers have started to open. I was real happy to find several coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) plants blossoming beside an old dirt road. Coltsfoot is one of our earliest blooming wildflowers and once I see them I know that things will happen fast from then on. Spring beauties, trout lilies, bluets and many others will follow in rapid succession now. I don’t think coltsfoot looks much like a dandelion but it does get mistaken for them.
One look at the scaly stem of a coltsfoot should convince anyone that they’re not looking at a dandelion, which has a very smooth stems. I was hoping to find a dandelion so I could get a photo to use in comparison but what was once one of our earliest wild flowers now seems to be blooming later each year.
Getting a decent shot of a yellow flower in full sun is difficult to say the least but nothing says spring like a daffodil in the sunshine, so I had to try. We’ve had about a full week of good warm, sunny weather and the spring flowering bulbs are opening quickly now.
One of the spring flowering bulbs I most look forward to seeing each spring is striped squill. The simple blue stripe down the middle of each white petal makes them very beautiful, in my opinion. The bulbs are very hard to find but they are out there. If you’d like some just Google Puschkinia scilloides, var. libanotica and I’m sure that you’ll find a nursery or two that carries them. They are much like the scilla (Scilla siberica) that most of us are familiar with in size and shape but they aren’t seen anywhere near as often and border on rare in this area. The example pictured here grows in a local park.
Skunk Cabbage leaves (Symplocarpus foetidus) are up and growing fast. It’s at this point that some of them really do resemble cabbage leaves.
Male speckled alder (Alnus incana) catkins go from brown to purplish red to yellow as they open to release their pollen. It’s like someone has hung colorful ornaments from the branches during the night, because it seems like they appear that quickly.
Close up photos reveal brown and purple scales on alder catkins. These scales are on short stalks and surround a central axis. There are three flowers beneath each scale, each with a lobed calyx cup and three to five stamens with anthers usually covered in yellow pollen, but I’m not seeing a lot of pollen on this particular example.
When the male (staminate) alder catkins become more yellow than reddish brown then it’s time to start looking for the tiny female (pistillate) flowers. Since alders are monoecious both male and female flowers can be found on the same shrub. The female flowers often form at the very tips of the branches in groups of 3-5 and contain red stigmas that receive the male pollen. Once fertilized the female flowers will grow into the small, cone like seed pods that I think most of us a familiar with.
Nature uses this same color again and again on the female flowers of red maple, hazelnut, speckled alder, eastern larch and others but why, I wonder. All of those flowers are wind pollinated so the color isn’t used to attract insects. There must be something more to it that I’m missing.
One day I went to a small pond and there must have been hundreds of frogs of at least three different kinds peeping, croaking and quacking at once. It was the loudest frog concert that I’ve ever heard.
Frogs aren’t the only ones that the warm days have stirred. I saw these two garter snakes warming themselves in the sun one day.
I don’t know enough about snakes to know if one was a female and one a male but this is the other one.
I’m not sure why this turtle was balancing itself on such a skinny little tree branch but it seemed content and was willing to pose.
I didn’t see it until I looked at the photo but this robin had a damaged a wing feather. It didn’t seem to hinder his flying ability at all so I think he was probably fine. I was surprised that he let me get so close.
My grandmother had a large weeping willow so willow trees always bring back fond memories. Right now they have taken on that golden haze that they show only in early spring and seeing them makes my winter weary spirit soar.
Down at eye level the gray, fuzzy willow catkins have turned to golden blossoms that light up the pond edges and river banks. They are a beautiful reminder of why spring has always been my favorite season and it’s such a joy to see them again.
Whenever I have found myself stuck in the ways I relate to things, I return to nature. It is my principal teacher, and I try to open my whole being to what it has to say. ~Wynn Bullock
Thanks for stopping in.
tall trees isn’t?
Yes, they get very tall here.
do you have geologist rocks my friend
I have rocks and minerals, yes. This area is very big on pegmatite minerals.
can u send me some????
I think that would cost a lot of money.
ONLY 2-9 DOLLARS
It goes by their weight, and rocks weigh a lot.
you followed amir malic???
I don’t think so. I don’t know them.
http://www.amirmalic.wordpress.com
he seem he has u
I think he’s telling you stories.
I’m glad your flowers have finally come out. The skunk cabbage really does look like cabbage and the fuzzy green of new willow leaves always make me smile too.
Me too. It’s great to see some flowers after what seemed such a long winter. The willows are a sure sign that spring is really here. They don’t get fooled often.
We have both coltsfoot and dandelions in our borders. How odd that I strain to remove one and encourage the other. OTOH, coltsfoot is far less invasive.
Yes, and they say that if dandelions were as rare as orchids, everyone would want them in their gardens. I’ve read that back in the cottage garden days people used to tear out any grasses that appeared to make room for more dandelions.
We have a handful of tiny wild orchids in our back lawn. It means you have to be very careful when cutting the grass. We’ve used white markers to help. 🙂
“I’ve read that back in the cottage garden days people used to tear out any grasses that appeared to make room for more dandelions.”
And why not, being both ornamental and edible. 🙂
I’d love to have orchids in my lawn. They are very hard to find here.
Ours are the Common Spotted orchid variety. (http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/common-spotted-orchid) No relation to the common spotted teenager. 😛
Common there, maybe. Here, not so much.
An ocean away after all. 🙂
Didn’t know that there were snakes in New Hampshire! Must have warmed up considerably for them and the turtles and frogs to be out and about.
Yes, we have a few snakes and it warmed up fast. One week of sunshine and 60+ temps and everybody woke up.
I found a few striped squill on my lawn last year, under a pine tree: https://flic.kr/p/niM469 (I’m in central VT) I’m looking forward to see if there are more this year!
That’s interesting. I wonder if a squirrel stole it from your neighbors. They do that!
I hope you do find more. They don’t seem to multiply quite as fast as Siberian squill.
Loads of dandelions here in London, agree they’re quite different to coltsfoot.
I couldn’t find a dandelion here if my life depended on it. I’ve been looking everywhere and haven’t seen any and they used to be one of the earliest wildflowers in this area.
They really do look very different than coltsfoot once you get to know both plants. Coltsfoot flowers are much flatter, for one thing.
I think I commented last year about how “quick” your spring seems. I suppose as you have colder winters and warmer summers than over here in England, it must be the case but it still surprises me how everything seems to come along in a rush. So many delightful wild flowers.
It does happen quickly some years Jim, and this is one of them. It was cold through March and then all of the sudden we got a week of 60 plus degree weather and that’s all it took to get things growing. I’m hoping springs stays around for a while. Some years it seems like we go from winter right into summer almost overnight.
I love the red Alder stigmas, as you say the red pigment must have some other function than to attract insect or to please us aesthetically! Amelia
I agree. I wish I could figure out what it was. Plants don’t expend energy for no reason, as you know.
Thanks, the warm days have had me outside working in the yard, but I can see I need to open my eyes more and see all the new life that is growing.
It’s hard to see a lot when you’re doing yard work. I did some yesterday evening for a few hours. I was hoping to see some bluets but I really didn’t see much of anything noteworthy.
Coltsfoot is really pretty. It deserves to be one of the first wildflowers to open in spring!
Haven’t seen any amphibians or reptiles here yet, so maybe you are ahead of us there. Those are very pretty little snakes.
I like coltsfoot too. I forgot to mention how small some of them are. These were about the size of a nickel.
Everything happened at once with the reptiles this year. It was like flipping a switch, and all of the sudden there they were.
Yes, your striped squill are the same as my few puschkinia which are starting to go over now. They are so very pretty and delicate. Such a quantity of wonderful shots today! I have also wondered why the hazel and alder flowers are such a bright red colour.
I read something a few days ago that might amuse you, Allen. I was looking through a gardening magazine and saw that the ‘must have’ plant for bog gardens now in this country is Skunk Cabbage!
Thank you Clare. I noticed today that the striped squill really resemble hyacinth flowers more than they do Siberian squill.
I’m sure that somebody somewhere has wondered the same thing that you and I have about hazel and alder flowers, and has probably written a paper on it. The hard part is finding it!
That is funny about people wanting skunk cabbages for bog gardens. All I can say is, be careful what you wish for! Skunk cabbages are interesting and unusual plants but they also have roots that can go several feet into the ground, so once you have them you have them forever.
The article in the magazine said nothing about that!
They might want to mention it next time so people know what they’re getting into!
I think they ought! I might contact them.
You’d be doing a lot of people a favor if you did. I’d hate to be the one that had to dig up a skunk cabbage that had been growing for a few years. The roots would go to China!
There’s a great article about the plant here: http://natureinstitute.org/pub/ic/ic4/skunkcabbage.htm
If you scroll down to the section titled “deeply rooted” you’ll see what I mean about their roots. It might give you a little extra ammunition when you write to the magazine.
What a fabulous essay! This will be very useful; thank-you so much, Allen.
You’re welcome Clare. I’m glad you liked it!
This long awaited spring must really be agreeing with you, as your photos are better than ever, and you’ve shot things I don’t normally see on your blog like the amphibians and robin!
I’ve found a good way to get good photos of the daffodils, spend too much money on a camera, but you seem to have found a way as well. 😉
I was out today, and everything seems to be in a hurry to get going after this miserable winter, it looks and sounds as if it is there also. Spring is my favorite time of year as well, if for no other reason that the scent of all the flowers in the air.
Thanks Jerry! It seems like everyone just wanted to pose for a photo this week. All the birds and animals seemed very relaxed and unafraid. I hope the weather in Michigan cooperated and hope you got some great photos.
My secret to taking a daffodil photo is underexposing and hoping I can get it to look halfway decent with Lightroom. At least, that’s the way it works when they’re in full sun!
I’ve always loved spring, even when I was young, and the flowers are just one reason. As you say, everything seems to be just bursting with life and energy and can’t wait to get growing. As Susan said in her comment, it’s a season of hope.
Wow, spring has finally started to take up residence in your neck of the woods. Nice photos!
Thank you. Yes, I even saw some spring beauties today. I think spring is really settling in.
Great close ups once again. You show us how to look.
Thanks! I hope so.
lovely photographs as usual Allen, really love seeing the wildlife, frogs, snakes, turtles etc…
Thanks Michael! It seems like even the birds and animals are out soaking up the sun and having a good time.
Turtles and Peepers are fine but I really don’t like the snakes! I heard the frogs last night for the first time so Spring must be finally here!!
You would have gotten along fine with my Grandmother Martha. I never would have heard the end of it if she had seen those snake photos!
I think it’s safe to say that spring is finally here, even though we still could see a freak snowstorm. (I’m hoping that doesn’t happen.)
Lovely and cheering. You are certainly a week or so ahead of us on the west side of the Connecticut River. No alder action here yet, though I did catch a flowering slippery elm yesterday. And I saw a fresh trout lily leaf, but no flower buds – not a single wildflower anywhere, not even the coltsfoot. But it will only be days now…
That’s interesting that we’re so far apart on bloom times. Since you’re a little farther west I would thing that you’d be slightly ahead of us, but I guess location doesn’t always matter.
I saw some wild leeks and false hellebore, along with trout lily and spring beauty foliage yesterday but no flowers yet. Any day now though-they happen fast once the leaves show. I hope you get to see some blooms soon!
I’m keeping my eyes peeled!
Great post to inspire us to go out and search for more signs of spring. I heard peepers yesterday, so I know spring has truly sprung. Beautiful images!
Thanks Laura,
Maybe it’s just me but those peepers seem extra loud this year! It could be that they’re just as happy to see spring as the rest of us.
You are correct about Spring, I think it is the best season too, hopeful, colourful and not too hot. I loved your picture of the striped squill, a plant I had never seen before.
Thank you Susan. Striped squill is a flower you don’t see very much for some reason. That’s strange because people seem to really like it.
I agree with you about spring. It’s always been my favorite!
Striped squill – pretty flower – never seen it in any gardens – thank for the photo. Love the shot of the turtle on the tree branch. I wonder how s/he does it?
I’m not sure how that turtle got up on that branch. Maybe it’s more climber than swimmer.
I’m glad you like the striped squill. It’s a favorite of mine that I keep telling myself I’ll buy, but by the time fall gets here I’ve forgotten.