Shooting Star

Gardening cultivates patience.  

I planted three shooting star in the fall of 2012. 

One plant finally bloomed this spring.  

It was worth the wait.

Spring on the Dunes

We monitored Bird foot Violet and Lyre-leaved Rock Cress yesterday in and around Ostrich Barrens.  The lupine were at their peak, just in time for Blue Week.  A few birders were lingering around from the Biggest Week in American Birding.  They were likely looking for Lark Sparrows and Red headed Woodpeckers that have recently moved into areas opened up by the tornado several years ago.  Even though it was cool, the sun warmed us as we strolled.

We record our data digitally on an iPad.  I am one of two who do not begrudge the task.  Normally it interferes with appreciating the surroundings - one's nose is always on the screen, recording an inordinate amount of information required in the name of Science.  But yesterday, because we limited our documentation to two species, I had plenty of time to loaf.  I sat down to photograph one of my favorite Spring flowers - the aptly named Pussy Toes.  I saw the insect and thought it was an ant.  I now believe it is a spider.  What do you think?

Goll Woods

Dan and I took a drive out to Goll Woods today.  It is a patch of old growth forest in Northwest Ohio.  I haven't been there in many years and I don't ever remember having been there in the Spring.  The forest floor was literally carpeted with flowers.

Swamp Buttercup

Toad shade Trillium

a yellow violet

Spring Beauty

Yellow Trout Lilly

Nodding Trillium

I don't remember having ever seen a more pristine forest floor.  The one Garlic Mustard plant we came across has been safely dispatched to the trash heap.

This forest was once part of the Great Black Swamp - not a pleasant place to visit once the mosquitoes hatch  But I'm putting it on my list of places to return each Spring.

Violets

Newcomb's Wildflower Guide lists over 30 Viola species occurring in Northeastern and North-central North America.

Lance-leaved Violet

Birdfoot Violet

This was the first day of our monitoring season.  There wasn't much blooming, but for me, the Birdfoot Violet makes any trip worthwhile.  We counted over 300 plants blooming on the sand dunes just off Ostrich Lane.

The Sand cherry had enough buds for us to count it as well.

Gone South

I have been enamored of the South since encountering finely mannered Southerners as schoolmates when in Cincinnati.  

We took a trip to Charleston recently and while there had a chance to visit Middleton Place, a former rice plantation and current national historic landmark.

One of the attractions of the South is the presence of Live Oaks.

The house was destroyed in the Civil War.  This would have been the view from the porch.  Most visitors would have arrived by boat on the Ashley River.

Middleton Place is the site of America's oldest landscaped gardens, laid out in 1741.  Azaleas were added in the early 20th century.

Charleston is perhaps my favorite city.  This is a typical Charleston house.  Behind the door is an open porch facing a small garden. 

Good Grief!

Another visit from winter this morning

Poor little tulips

Hope

Two weeks ago today we had to put Hudson to sleep.  He had developed another episode of pancreatitis that wrecked havoc with his poor little self.  He was 14 1/2 years old. 

It has been a difficult two weeks.

The day after he died, the Snow Iris finally bloomed. 

It is a most welcomed Spring.