Early Spring in Virginia

Posted on April 2, 2016 by ruthnativeflowers

Actually it’s not so early anymore. The Redbud trees are past blooming already but were spectacular for a little while.

S0_redbud tree

S0_redbud 2016

My spicebushes grew a lot last year. They were in full bloom a couple of weeks ago.

S0_spicebush on bloom2 sm 2016

My Virginia Bluebells grow more abundant every year. They are in full bloom right now on April 2.

S0_va bluebells 2016

There are lots of violets blooming in my wooded area. I can’t quite identify this one from my Peterson’s Field Guide. It has flowers and leaves on separate stalks and the leaves are deeply cleft. By best guess is some sort of Sweet White Violet though it obviously has a lot of blue.

S0_violets

I love my deciduous azalea, though it’s gotten so tall I had a hard time getting a picture of the flowers.

S0_deciduous azalea

The dogwoods are coming into bloom. Here is my wooded area “shade garden” in a light rain this morning.

S0_dogwoods

My serviceberry is no farther long than Deb’s in Delaware and I have trouble getting a good photo of it because it’s so “airy”.

S0_serviceberry 2015 sm

Finally there are lots of baby ferns all over the shade garden.

S0_baby ferns

April 1st: Spring’s Coming, No Foolin’!

Posted on April 1, 2016 by grammydebp

I am always anxious for spring to arrive, and even though we had a mild winter here in Delaware, and trees and flowers are already starting to bloom, I’m still impatient. Today I prowled around my yard and took some pictures of some perennials that are starting to grow, and of course, a picture of my beloved serviceberry tree that is getting very close to blooming! A wonderful surprise was the appearance of three little milkweed seedlings from seeds that I planted last November and left outside over the winter.

Blue lobelia

Cardinal flower

Virginia waterleaf

Milkweed seedling

Monarda (Bee balm)

Serviceberry tree, almost in bloom!

Virginia Springtime Redux

Posted on April 24, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

I’ve taken several springtime photos that I never got around to posting. Here are some of them.

White Dogwood Opening 04/07/15

White Dogwood in Evening Light 04/14/15

Pink Dogwood in Evening Light 04/14/15

Serviceberry Finally in Bloom - the Flowers Only Lasted 2 - 3 Days

Serviceberry Finally in Bloom 04/16/15 – the Flowers Only Lasted 2 – 3 Days

My “Tulip Faces” – 04/14/15

Volunteer Columbine – 04/23/15

My serviceberry in all its glory!

Posted on April 22, 2015 by grammydebp

I got this serviceberry tree last year for a Mother’s Day gift, but by that time it had already bloomed and had set its fruit, so I never saw it in bloom. Then last August, something decided to devour its leaves, and I feared it would not survive ( see My Serviceberry Saga). I have been anxiously watching the buds on this tree since January, and finally this past Sunday, it bloomed! Here are a couple pictures I took to commemorate the occasion:

I also happened to be walking along the extremely wet side of my house after torrential rains the night before, and there was a spring beauty blooming in the grass! I was amazed and delighted, because I had planted a few last spring that a friend had given me, but then took them out because they had Japanese stilt grass mixed in and I definitely didn’t want that. It never occurred to me that one might have survived sans stilt grass. So here is a picture of my one and only spring beauty:

Early spring in Delaware

Posted on April 11, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

As with a good part of the east coast, spring has been very slow to come this year. I have been anxiously watching my yard for signs of survival after our harsh winter, and now I’m beginning to see some progress. Here are some pictures I took on April 9, 2015.