Tag: Spring

Picture of the Day for June 3, 2015

Rolled up old barbed wire can be photogenic except when it is at my place since it means I haven’t finished cleaning up the old fences or took care of the “pretty yellow flowers” which are behind the wire. The pretty flowers are considered a highly invasive weed which was brought over to North America in the 1700s. Wild Mustard greens can be eaten and the seeds ground for mustard, but can be poisonous to cattle if they eat too much or favor the milk so it is not sellable. So both the old wire and wild mustard are bad things but together they create a pretty picture.

Old and Yellow

Old and Yellow

Picture of the Day for May 31, 2015

Today is Trinity Sunday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar which celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In various books, including the American Gardening published in 1896,  the trillium is often mentioned in connection with Trinity Sunday and the wildflower is also called trinity flower. Nearly all parts of the plant comes in threes. It has 3 broad leaves on each stalk, 3 small green sepals and 3 large white sepals surrounding a group of yellow stamens plus it also has three-sectioned seedpods.

But this year my great white trillium blossoms has already turned pink or dropped their flower petals so only the nodding trilliums were displaying their white flowers yet.

Great White Trillium or Trinity Flower

Great White Trillium or Trinity Flower

Picture of the Day for May 29, 2015

In short distance, even sometimes just a few feet, the type of wildflowers can change greatly. Just a few miles from my home, a limestone cliff can be found a rural road and at the base of the cliff, a splash of blue caught my eye. Spreading Jacob’s Ladder, a native wildflower of moist shady woodlands, with blue to purple flowers, is also sometimes called Stairway to Heaven, which is fitting since I found it at the base of a cliff and the flower need a lot of stairs or a ladder to get to the top.

Spreading Jacob’s Ladder

Spreading Jacob's Ladder

Picture of the Day for May 20, 2015

The name Marsh Marigold gives a clue where you might find this wildflower since they are often found in marshy areas and in wet ditches nestled within the cattails, but they are not related to marigolds of the Aster family but are instead part of the buttercup family. In the UK, Caltha palustris is also known as kingcup, mayflower, May blobs, mollyblobs, pollyblobs, horse blob, water blobs, water bubbles, and gollins. I’m not sure if any of those names are any more fitting since a blob doesn’t sound so pretty and at least the name of marigold refers back to medieval churches as a tribute to the Virgin Mary, as in Mary gold. And they look more golden to me in the ditches and marshes than a horse blob!

Marsh Marigolds in the Ditch

Marsh Marigolds in the Ditch

Picture of the Day for May 18, 2015

The solitary flower of a Nodding Trillium hangs underneath the leaves so it isn’t spotted very easily (and maybe why the deer don’t eat as many of these trilliums as the other type) but it also makes it difficult to take a picture of them as the camera has to be on the ground shooting upward. With the probably frost tonight, the Nodding Trillium probably will want to keep its head covered under the leaves.

Finding the Nodding Trillium

Finding the Nodding Trillium

Picture of the Day for May 16, 2015

I interrupted a pair of bluebirds while I was taking apple blossom pictures when I got too close to the birdhouse where they were feeding their young. But the splash of blue color looked pretty among the white and pink blossoms and new green leaves while they waited for me to leave the area.

Bluebirds Amidst the Blossoms

Bluebirds Amidst the Blossoms