It is too early for blooming roses here, so instead of stopping and smelling the roses on a Sunday afternoon, you will have to smell the apple blossoms and lilacs instead.
Springtime Lilacs
Picture of the Day for May 13, 2020
The deer in my woods seem to like white flowers as I cannot find a great white trillium blossom left but only the chewed off stems. And the deer even ate the white blooms of the bloodroots, although I did find some white Wood Anemones flowers which tend to grow in thick mats. A single plant may take five years or more to blossom so hopefully since they are low to the ground, maybe the deer will skip these little wildflowers.
Wood Anemones
Picture of the Day for May 1, 2020
May Day was a holiday celebrated more in the past centuries, with May baskets and the May pole dancing. But at least there are finally some flowers blooming that could have been used to fill a May basket if it was a tiny basket since many of the early blossoms are tiny like these Spring Beauties.
May Day Spring Beauties
Picture of the Day for April 27, 2020
Today the birds sounded like they were inside my house as it was finally warm enough to open the windows for the first time this year. And the wildflowers seemed to soak up the warmth too with wood violets, bloodroots, and yellow trout lily blossoms finally opened. And the earlier opened hepatica blooms seemed to gain more color on this warm afternoon after the morning rain.
Sunny Hepaticas
Picture of the Day for April 18, 2020
The snow was melting in the woods, but still no bloodroots poking up yet. Although there were some green leaves mottled with brown color of the yellow trout lily up, no blossom stems up nor any flowers yet. The leaves mottled coloring resemble the coloring of brook trout, giving the trout lily its name and when eventually they bloom, the yellow is added to its name.
Yellow Trout Lily
Picture of the Day for April 8, 2020
Some years when the ice first comes off my pond, I will get some visiting ducks that might hang around for a few days as the migrate to their summer nesting sites. This year I didn’t spot extras passing through like these Blue-winged Teals which did visit a couple years in the past.
Visiting Blue-winged Teals
Picture of the Day for April 7, 2020
The day started off with a thunderstorm and then so foggy I couldn’t see my pond. But late afternoon the sun came out and the bluebirds were singing as they checked out birdhouses. The pheasants and woodpeckers added some mating calls as sandhill cranes flew overhead. The evening frog choir serenaded the pink supermoon as it rose in the sky. This April’s full moon, also known as the pink moon because of moss pink, native North American wildflowers that bloom in early springtime, happens to be the closest moon of the year. While pink flowers may be blooming elsewhere, the blossoms I spotted today in my yard were blues and not pink.
Finally Flowers
Picture of the Day for March 19, 2020
Spring arrived late this evening, but it sure didn’t look or feel like spring as snow was falling. And now the wind is rattling the trees making it feel even colder.
Arrival of Spring Snow
Picture of the Day for February 4, 2020
When the rodent gave his forecast on Groundhog’s Day, many figure it is the midpoint of winter but this year, halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox actually occurred today instead. And Wisconsin’s groundhog Jimmy predicted six more weeks of winter. It would be nice if winter was really over in six weeks so we could see some spring wildflowers when the calendar says it is spring.
Maybe Halfway to Spring
Picture of the Day for January 9, 2020
The day was warmer than yesterday, but it was still below freezing as winter will keep its hold on the season for several more months preventing the early wildflowers, like these hepaticas, from making their appearance.
White Wildflowers Winter Delayed
