Picture of the Day for May 15, 2014

This flower needs the sun as much as I do and will expand wide in the sun but as evening draws near or if rain threatens, the Wood Anemone will close and droop it head so that no dew will injure it. The blossom has no true petals but has sepals instead and it is the sepals that fold over the mass of stamens and undeveloped seed vessels in the center like a tent. When closed, the pale rose colored underside of the sepals are seen, otherwise in the sun, the white upper side dance in the wind.

The Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia) is often overlooked since it is a small blossom in the low bed of green leaves. It is not flashy or colorful and even the insects ignore it has little scent or nectar to attract them.

Wood Anemone

Wood Anemone

Picture of the Day for May 14, 2014

Sometimes newer and bigger isn’t always better as the farmers in the area are finding out. The horse drawn plows have been working in the fields for almost a month, but the big ‘horse’ power tractors have been getting stuck quite frequently in the soggy ground. And then there are the bets going on whether the third tractor will get the second stuck tractor out which was trying to pull the first stuck tractor and plow out.

The Old

The Old,

Picture of the Day for May 11, 2014

For this Mother’s Day, I won’t be able to give my mom the usual flowers I give her, one of the early flowers which bloom in the area, the pretty dandelions. Due to the lack of many flowers blooming yet, the honey bees in my yard need the flowers more than my mom does this year.

When honeybees first emerge from their hives in the spring they have typically depleted their winter stores of honey and pollen needed for daily nutrition to sustain their life and “mom’s flowers”, the dandelions provides one of the first important sources of pollen and nectar, prior to when the other spring nectar sources become available.

So mom will have to look at her Mother’s Day flowers as a picture only this year since the honey bees were on the dandelions yesterday.

Mother’s Day Flowers

Mother's Day Flowers

Picture of the Day for May 8, 2014

The wildflowers seem to be having a hard time opening this cold spring. The Bloodroots have had their blossoms up for a week but they have been closed up tight and there was only a little sun out yesterday so they still haven’t fully opened up yet. But it was windy and some of the petals were being blown away even if they haven’t displayed their blooms completely.

Emerging Bloodroots

Emerging Bloodroots