There is no sun out today to shine on the Jack-in-the-pulpits even if the snow wasn’t two feet deep but if they were blooming, ‘Jack’ would need a hood to keep the snow off his head this weekend since more snow predicted.
Jack Will Need a Hood
Picture of the Day for March 24, 2013
The new calves arriving the past few months are probably wishing for spring to arrive too as green grass and warm sunshine are more inviting than snow drift and cold winds.
Spring Calf
Picture of the Day for March 16, 2013
“The wild marsh marigold shines like fire in the swamps and hollows gray…”, Tennyson from the May Queen 1860
Indeed, marsh marigold’s brilliant flowers are hard to overlook after a long winter and are a member of the Ranunculaceae family, named by Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) for plants that grow where frogs are found. Ranunculus is Latin for “little frog”.
The flowers are showy because of their bright color and relatively large size. The foliage is an attractive bright green, showing color in the wetlands in early spring.
Marsh Marigold
Picture of the Day for March 15, 2013
One spring wildflower that stands taller than many of the early spring ones, are the Virginia bluebells as they wave their trumpet shaped flower above the forest floor. The pink buds turn to a deep blue color as the blossom ages and are a welcome sight to spot in the early spring even if they don’t last long.
Virginia Bluebells
Picture of the Day for March 14, 2013
Searching for color of the first wildflower after a long winter is always a thrill of spring. I have a few bulbs that will peek its blossom up through the snow, but the hepatica is first wildflower to appear in the woods. The blue, white or pink flowers wave their color above last year’s fallen oak leaves on hairy stems that help insulate them from the cool temperatures of early spring. The three lobed, heart shaped leaves appear after the flowers bloom.
Last year with the mild winter, the hepatica were already blooming in the middle of March but this year if they tried, they would be buried under several feet of snow and they would be snowed on today too. The flowers close on cloudy days and at night to protect their pollen when pollinators are not apt to be flying. However, the cold temperatures of early April mean that there are not many potential pollinators flying about anyway. Fortunately, hepatica has the ability to self-pollinate and produce seed without the aid of insects.
Hepatica nobilis
Picture of the Day for March 13, 2013
There are other spots of white in the spring after the snow finally melts. The white blossoms of the Bloodroot, wrapped in green leaves, add some of the first color in the spring time woods.
The blood of the root (when cut open) was used as a dye. A break in the surface of the plant, especially the roots, reveals a reddish sap.
Bloodroot
Picture of the Day for March 12, 2013
While the Spring Beauty isn’t the first spring wildflower to appear in the spring, it does have ‘spring’ in its name so it is a sign of spring. Although one of its other names is ‘fairy spud’ which doesn’t sound so spring like to me.
Spring Beauty
Picture of the Day for March 11, 2013
The white trillium might not be a flower showing pretty colors, but the white blossoms do stand out against the green and brown forest floor in the spring.
And they stand out too well for the deer. Trilliums are a favored food of white-tailed deer. Indeed if trilliums are available deer will seek these plants, with a preference for T. grandiflorum like the one pictured, to the exclusion of others. When deer foraging intensity increases, the plant becomes shorter each growing season due to the reduction in energy reserves from less photosynthetic production.
My poor trilliums where hit hard last year by the deer and it will be a miracle if any of them will blossom this year.
White Trillium
Picture of the Day for March 10, 2013
According to the ‘official groundhog’ prediction, spring was supposed to be early and come in four weeks. Well the four weeks are up and it is snowing this morning so my groundhog was right this time, not that I wanted him to right. And since I am waiting for spring, I think this week’s theme will be search for spring wildflowers.
And while the Jack-in-the-pulpit doesn’t have bright colors, it is at least green instead of white!
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Picture of the Day for February 14, 2013
There are different theories about the origins of Valentine’s Day, with some placing the origin with the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia that occurred February 13th to the 15th. The festival included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be coupled up for the duration of the festival and maybe even longer, if the match was right.
In the 3rd century, the Roman Emperor Claudius II thought marriage was not good for war since men wanted to stay home with their wives, so he outlawed marriage. At the time there was a Christian priest named Valentine who felt sorry for the couples and married people in secret. When Claudius found out, he threw Valentine in jail and executed him on February 14. Before his death however, Valentine wrote a letter to the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend and signed it from your Valentine.
St. Valentine’s Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife.
Whatever the origin, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year.
Happy Valentine’s Day
