Things are waking up. It's a vibrant time on the farm.
Ground ivy. Why this is considered a weed is a mystery to me.
The Bradford pear in the front yard. When the storm front came blowing in today, the air in the bedroom filled with white petals. Very cinematic, but somebody has to vacuum them up.
Skunk cabbage. This swamp monocot actually starts crowning in January, but doesn't leaf out until March.
Mayapple. At the bottom of the buttcrack, by the creek, these are barely emerging. 50' higher, by the edge of the south pasture, they are getting ready to bloom. The power of pooled cool air.
Jewel weed cotyledons. A fun and useful plant of wet areas.
Allergy season is already upon us.
Pasture violets.
Apple.
Maple.
Schnickelfritz.
Amplexus in the ornamental garden pond. I would love for the pond to be full of little toadpoles this spring. There's another guy out there as well, singing at night in hopes of attracting a big gravid lady toad. He sounds like a dial-up modem. The pond has never had toads before; it's always been green frogs. Two frogs, the pump, and my shubunkin goldfish didn't make it this winter. I think the pond actually froze solid.
First to pip. I can see the little guy moving, but he hasn't started zipping the shell yet. Took this about a half-hour ago.
Wisteria. This seems to bloom in alternate years.
Ground ivy. Why this is considered a weed is a mystery to me.
Pasture violets.
Maple.
Schnickelfritz.
Beautiful photo essay on the season.
ReplyDeleteDial up modem!
ReplyDeleteThat's exacatly what American toads sound like!
Cane toads also make that noise.
If you want to watch something awesome, watch the cane toad documentary on youtube. I have it on VHS, which I taped off the Discovery Channel many years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mvV8OT-mmE
There's a toad expert who can make that noise on that documentary.
Our watering trough was full of black tadpoles, but these all had to be scooped out for the horses to move back in. Their owner did it this week, and killed all the algae in it.
The black mare (featured here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_NJyyqXRAg) and I once spent and afternoon trying to catch a northern water snake that was in the watering trough.
We didn't catch, but I think she had a fun time playing in the water!
Nice photos! Happy spring.
ReplyDeleteAnybody who uses the word "Schnickelfritz" in a blog post deserves bonus points. Or cookies. Or something.
ReplyDeleteI have ground ivy in my front garden and can't bring myself to pull it out. It's pretty. "Weed" is in the eye of the beholder! :p
Schnickelfritz?
ReplyDeleteHmmm...
eli
Beware! Ground ivy seeks world domination. It may be pretty and green and smell nice - but if you let it get within sniffing distance of your garden you'll come to like it a lot less.
ReplyDelete