Look around the interstates right now, and the white trees you see are black. Black locust. There may be dogwood lingering, and I hope there is, but the two can’t be confused. Locust blooms are not little white plates stretched on graceful branches in the understory: rather, they are white bunches of grapes drooped from scraggly canopy. And they smell divine. Continue reading “Black locust bloom”
Radnor Lake posted pics of dwarf larkspur drifts, so I had to go. Flowers in blue and purple do exert a pull. Bluebell woods are the prime example, but dwarf larkspur is a biggie too, so to speak. Continue reading “Dwarf. Lark. Spur.”
We drove down I-40 yesterday sandwiched between drifts of white. All the white blooms massed atop limestone cuttings, up Interstate shoulders and down in fields were pretty, I admit, but they were all Bradfords. Continue reading “Dirty Socks (a.k.a. Bradford Pears)”
“SELECT-A-SPRING”
We have a wide range of choices. Here are a few:
Astronomical
Solar
Calendar-based
Meteorological Continue reading “Select a Spring”
Red maples are on my radar this year. Not Japanese red maples, which, believe it or not, seed themselves into invasive status in some areas of the U.S., but the native kind, the kind with leaves that don’t go fully red till fall color kicks in. Acer rubrum. Our red maples have red buds, red flowers, and reddish seeds, too.
They’ve given me a lovely example of From Flower to Fruit.
On March 4, I posted a picture of a cluster of female flowers:
Red maples can have all male flowers on a tree, all female, or a mix. Nature is never dull. Continue reading “Red maple from flower to fruit”
The elms buds have been swelling all week, and today they burst. Elm flowers mean spring. The squirrels could not be more thrilled. Continue reading “Elm Buds, Sign of Spring”
Before I began to Look Around (see what I did there?), the only clue winter was waning was this:
Daffodils are still pure cheer, but they aren’t the only yard flower to signal spring. Continue reading “First Flowers”
Sidewalk Nature 