A Bucket-full of Spring Photos

It has been way too long since I have added to this blog. So I will now dump eleven photos here! I hope you enjoy them.

First of all, here are three photo of our Flowering Plum Tree in bloom. The first two are from April 8, and the third one is from four days later when the leaves have almost overtaken all of the remaining flowers. By the way, compare the first and third photos with the one I posted on April 2 of the flowers in bud stage only. All three of these photos were of the same section of branch.

Flowering Plum blosoms, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (8-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Flowering Plum bloooms, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (8-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Leaves overtake Flowering Plum bloosoms, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (12-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

I'm not sure that I would have said a Maple tree blooms before exploring the photo below. But now I definitely say a Maple tree blooms. What do you think?

Maple treee in our front lawn in bloom, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (13-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

I try to keep my neighbors in mind while trying to practice my minimalistic gardening practices. So in a week or two I need to put some broad-leaf weed killer on our lawn, but in the meantime, let's you and I enjoy the most common weed in eastern USA, the Dandelion! 

A few Dandelions, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (13-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

I'm also committed to documenting the cycle of life found in nature. So here is one of the last Daffodils in our flower bed along the street.

Fading away Daffodil, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (13-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

As I mentioned last time, the Grape Hyacinth is nearly a weed in our yard and garden. Below are two photos (well, they are the same photo just cropped differently) of a carpet of Grape Hyacinths in our flower bed out by the street. Which one do you like best and why? Let me know. 

Grape Hyacinths in our flower bed Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (17-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Grape Hyacinths in our flower bed Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (17-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Tuli[s have always been a favorite of mine. So check out the ones below. 

Tulips, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (17-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

Below was an invader in our street-side flower bed, at least I do not recall of seeing it before. So what bird or wind dropped the first seed there. My official, but unpaid plant expert, Dr. Ed Lickey, told me these were the flowers of the Rapeseed.

Rapeseed flowers, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (17-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

The Rapeseed plant itself is tall for spring flowers, 2-3 ft (60-100 cm). Below you see it in its environment in our flower bed. 

Rapeseed plant growing in our flower bed (unwanted?), Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (17-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

I'll plan on showing you what the root of the Rapeseed plant looked like next time, so check back often.

A Planted Bulb Turned into a Beautiful Weed

When we planted most of our flower bulbs about two decades ago, the smallest one was the Grape Hyacinth. Somehow these have now sprung up in our lawn and garden. In the garden I call them a weed, but in the spring it is lovely to see their blooms in our spring lawn.

Grape Hyacinths in our lawn, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (6-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Two Daffodils, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (6-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

I took both of these photos in the early morning light before the Sun made its way up over the Massanutten Mountains.

More Spring Flowers

Spring keeps advancing even though at times it feels like the weather is turning a bit towards the coolness of winter. Here are two photos of Daffodils that are completely open.

A Full Daffodil, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (29-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Two Daffodils, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (29-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

And the parade toward spring keeps lining up for a slow but brilliant roll-out. Below are some buds on our Flowering Plum tree. It hardly seems like they will wait even another day to pop open.

Flowering Plum Buds, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (2-Apr-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

Spring Is Bringing New Flowers

The first Daffodil of spring has shown its face, or at least partially shown its bloom, just in time for Easter.

First Daffodil of Sping, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (29-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

While Waiting for Spring, Yet Again!

It is definitely snowing the second Sunday in a row. And I like it. Check out my other two blogs to see some snow scenes. (Click on the navigation links near the top of this page.)

But while we are waiting for spring, I'm have learned something new--to identify two winter annual wild flowers. OK, wild flowers are only in the eye of the beholder, but I'll let you see their beauty first before you decide is they are weeds or not. The first one is called by various names, but what seems to be the most common is Persian Speedwell.

Persian Speedwell, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (20-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

To get a sense of how small it is, notice the size of the White Clover in the upper-right corner.

Now check out the second one, Purple Deadnettle, but again it is known by other common names, too.

Purple Deadnettle, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (23-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

Isn't that a wonderful tiny flower. The leaves are about the size of a garden mint.

To give more of a perspective, here is a photo of both of these growing together in our winter lawn here in mid-March.

Persian Speedwell and Purple Deadnettle, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (20-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

To me this is a very pleasing sight. I'm glad I took the time to look up close. But to put it in its perspective as a "weed," here is a zoomed out photo. 

Persian Speedwell and Purple Deadnettle, our front lawn, Harrisonburg, VA, USA   (20-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

For more info on these and other wildflowers in our lawns and gardens (OK, call them weeds), visit the Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide.

While Waiting for Spring

Here is another indoor plant that came initially in a small planter someone gave us, probably upon the death of one of our parents. But now seven or more years later it is 2 1/2 feet (or about 75 cm) tall. And as I often have discovered that given enough of years and some stressing from not watering as often as I should, a green foliage plant will also produce flowers. "

Kentia Palm, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (20-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

My plant buddy (expert), Ed Lickey, has identified this as a Kentia Palm and said it looked healthy. "Thanks, Ed!" Below is a close up of the flowers. They are small yellow globes with a smaller green triangle in the center. After almost two weeks they are now beginning to turn brown.

Kentia Palm "flowers," Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (21-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

Our Sansevieria (Snake Plant) is old and tall (3 1/2 feet), but it has not bloomed for some time. I must be taking too good of care of it1

Spring is Coming to a Christmas Cactus

Look Our Christmas Cactus puts on a display of color not only at Christmas time with its wonderful flowers, but also when its new growth comes in the spring it is splash of red at the end of an old "stalk."

Christmas Cactus, Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (14-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

Belizean Jungle from the Air?

Look at the photo below and take a guess at what I was capturing with my Canon SX30 IS camera.

Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (28-Feb-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

OK, I have given it away by labeling the photo as from some where in our home city. Below is a zoomed out view to give the correct perspective.

Harrisonburg, VA, USA  (28-Feb-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

I am not the most organized gardener, but if I had been, I would never have gotten the close-up of this moss combination. According to my "resident" biologist, Ed Lickey, the taller moss is "Polytrichum commune (the genus means many hairs), and the other one with the creeping "stems" is probably Mnium (don't know the species)." So while Ed worries because he cannot decide o n the species, I cannot even guess the genus!

While trying to further research mosses, I came upon a web site that I want to explore more. It is the Plant Database maintained by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). The user can search by either the scientific name or the common name. Check it out!

They Are Flowers on a Redbud Tree

No one guessed the flower from two days ago correctly, but one of our daughters did figure it was a flower on a tree. (I had tried to obscure that fact.) Below is a photo that is zoomed out further that the one on Monday, showing that the blooms are on a tree.

Near Williamsburg, VA, USA Mayan  (3-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

And finally below is a photo showing the whole tree in its spring finery.

Near Williamsburg, VA, USA Mayan  (3-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

Hopefully spring flowers will be blooming here in Harrisonburg, VA, pretty soon, too.

Guess This Flower!

This past weekend, Elsie and I attended a conference near Williamsburg, VA, USA. To our pleasant surprise, we discovered that, while their forecast temperatures were only a few degrees Fahrenheit above those forecast for Harrisonburg, they already had some flowers blooming.

Near Williamsburg, VA, USA Mayan  (3-Mar-13; © Richard L. Bowman) 

Send your guess to me, and I'll let you all know how many persons named it correctly.

--©2013, Richard L. Bowman