Scanner art by Craig Cramer, gardening & more
What happens when. ‘Today the first snowdrop flowered.’
Cleaning up some images from a couple weeks ago that I never got around to posting. More to come this weekend when the tulips finally break.
Emerging bloodroot. Â These are singles. Â The doubles are running a few days behind.
Backlit pulmonaria.
and Tulipa ‘I haven’t a clue’.
Peachy primula.
Pulmonaria and stone.
As spring progresses, our days grow longer, faster as the sunset gradually moves down the ridge to the west. It all starts accelerating around the equinox. The downside: Accelerating darkness in fall.
It hit 64 F today and tonight the spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) are singing again for the first time this year. You can listen to them here.
Our property borders on (heck, it extends into) a major wetland. And when the peepers really crank it up the noise is so loud as to make you dazed and confused. Folks will actually pull over on the side of the road when the peepers at their peak and listen for as long as they can take it.
It’s supposed to be in the 50s tomorrow and then we’re expecting a week when it doesn’t get out of the 30s. That’s not great for maximum volume. Hopefully it will warm up nicely after that and the peepers can crank it up to 11.
The first Sunday of April every year, the Skunk Cabbage Road Race runs right by our front door. How can you not love a race named for an early-flowering native that smells like my garden sneakers in August.
Looking back at the weather records, it was one of the warmer runs since we moved here in 1999. The temp peaked at 47 F, second only to last year’s 52. (In 2002, the high was only 32.) Today it was in the 60s, but snow is forecast for the end of the week. Such is April, the cruelest month in these parts.
Update: [4/4/07] Graham blogs today about skunk cabbage over at Transatlantic Plantsman.
I love the frenzy of flowers in late spring/early summer.  And the garden here peaks in September when the shear mass of plant  material is nearly overwhelming.  But nothing beats seeing what pops up as the snow retreats.
We hit 63 yesterday and today, and had a little rain today. Â The snow has retreated quickly, and we had a nice blanket of ‘melting snow fog’ this afternoon. Â (Click on images for larger view.)
The rain and melting snow has our little creek up over it’s banks.
The snow pealed back to reveil Eranthis (winter aconite) in full flower.
The hard cyclamens are also looking good and flowering within a day of seeing the sun.
And the Hellebores are getting off to a good start …
I’m just as excited to see vegetation that amazingly survives (if not actually grows) under the snow, like these Digitalis ferruginea …
… Verbascum …
… Lamium …
… and this viny groundcover that’s taking over the patio.
Best picture of the batch: This Verbascum has been nibbled on a bit. I wonder by what?
Snowdrops, iris and other goodies are coming on, too. More pix from the compressed spring coming soon.