Spring Flowers: Potpourri (of sorts)

Posted on April 18, 2012 by daclaren

Rather than posting about one particular flower this time, I thought I’d post some photos of the various smaller spring flowers that grace our woods every year. I still want to post a separate post about the Trout Lily, so you won’t see any of those here, but there are plenty of others!

The first flowers to appear at Starview this year emerged back in late February, still weeks away from the official start of spring.

Ivy-leaved Speedwell (Veronica hederifolia):

Henbit Deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule):

The Siberian Squill and Periwinkle mentioned in my earlier entries came next, along with the appearance of the first Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). Contrary to their name, these beautiful flowers started appearing on March 3.

The Spring Beauty flower usually only has five petals, but I did find this fascinating one with nine petals. Can flowers have Siamese or parasitic twins? Hrm…

By the middle of March, we were also seeing the usual dandelions, as well as the small purple flowers of the Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea).

I was surprised to see Bloodroot on March 13, as they don’t normally emerge in our woods until the first week of April! By the following week, they were completely covering their usual area. Interestingly enough, I still saw one or two of the flowers on my most recent visit…there are still a few hanging on! (The ones in the photo were taken on St. Patrick’s Day.)

Ok, that’s enough photos for one entry; more to come!

To be continued…

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Spring Flowers: Periwinkle

Posted on March 31, 2012 by daclaren

Along with the Siberian Squill, we also have a patch of Periwinkle (Vinca minor) in the woods at Starview. In fact, the two co-exist pretty peacefully and are usually in bloom simultaneously for a couple of weeks during early spring. Periwinkle (in our case, it’s technically Lesser Periwinkle) is easily recognizable and very beautiful, with bluish-purple flowers and dark green foliage. Some people call this pretty ground cover ‘myrtle’ or ‘creeping myrtle,’ but I’m not crazy about that nickname, as it’s not part of the myrtle family.

As with everything else, the Periwinkle started blooming much earlier than usual this year due to the warmer weather and mild winter. Last year, due to frigid temperatures during the winter, I didn’t start seeing it until April 7. In 2010, it had a fairly early start on March 17, in spite of two major snowstorms in February.

This year, my first Periwinkle sighting was on March 10! It looks quite content, soaking up the sun and enjoying the general lack of winter weather.

Here’s another from the following day. At this point, there were only a few Periwinkle in bloom, but there were several others ready and waiting to emerge.

And one with more of a purple hue from March 13:

As you can tell, it was so nice during this time that we were able to take frequent trips to Starview! We were back again on March 15, even though there was a threat of rain. It started out only slightly overcast, but the Periwinkle still managed to make everything look bright and spring-like. Yeah, I know, spring was still a week away, but it’s been that kind of year so far. ;)

As I was out taking pictures that day, Mother Nature decided to surprise us with some rain showers…April showers in mid-March! As a sidenote, I got to test out the built-in rain cover on my Lowepro Rezo 170 AW camera bag, and it worked wonderfully. It was easy to put on and kept the water away from my camera. I definitely recommend the AW line of bags; I have three of them (Rezo 170 and 180, and a SlingShot 200).

Anyway, after the rain subsided, I got this shot of a freshly-bathed Periwinkle cradled in a leaf.

By the 18th, the patch of Periwinkle was in full bloom and it was hard to find spots with single flowers. This group seemed to be saying that good things come in threes…and, as you can see, there are a few more waiting to bloom in this photo.

Now that it’s been around for a few weeks and has enjoyed its time in the sunlight, the Periwinkle is starting to wane once again. By March 22, there were still plenty of flowers, but they were being overtaken by the next wave of spring wildflowers. Though some consider Periwinkle to be very invasive, I’d say that it seems to co-exist pretty peacefully with the other wildflowers. In addition to the Siberian Squill mentioned in my earlier entry, lots of other wildflowers grow alongside our homestead Periwinkle.

In this photo from the March 22, you can see Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) and Golden corydalis (Corydalis aurea) at the top center of the photo, and Ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia) in the upper right corner and bottom center of the photo. Also, those tall, bright green plants sticking up from left to right across the center of the photo are Common Chickweed (Stellaria media).

As happens in other years, much of the Periwinkle was crowded out by the Chickweed when we last visited yesterday. There are still patches where the Periwinkle is thriving, but I have a feeling that it’s on its way out for this year…already. Keep in mind that, as I mentioned earlier, I didn’t even see my first Periwinkle last year until we were a week into April! This is why I’m fascinated by phenology.

Lots more spring flowers and animals to come…I was thrilled during yesterday’s visit to see that the gorgeous Trout lilies (Erythronium americanum) were in full bloom and looking absolutely stunning in the sunlight! Some of the usual spring wildflowers, such as Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), are fighting to keep up with this wacky weather pattern. Others, like the Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) are absolutely thriving and loving it.

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So long, and thanks for all the licks

Posted on March 29, 2012 by daclaren

Earl Scruggs passed away yesterday at age 88. Even those unfamiliar with the man himself have surely heard his music, most likely “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” or “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.” What you may not realize is that the fast-picking style of banjo playing you hear in the song was created largely by Scruggs himself…a style which carries his name.

Prior to the emergence of Scruggs style (a.k.a. bluegrass style) picking, the banjo was played with the clawhammer style or two-finger picking. Scruggs started using a three-finger picking style when he was young and introduced it to the world in the mid-1940s, revolutionizing banjo picking forever.

I am an aspiring – and learning – banjo player; I’ve been fascinated by the instrument since childhood, but I didn’t have an opportunity to take it up until recent years. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to play Scruggs style – I’d seen him on TV when I was a kid (performing alongside his son Randy and Ricky Skaggs) and was blown away by the fast picking and melodic sounds coming from his banjo.

Rest in peace, Earl.

Steve Martin, an amazing banjo picker in his own right, wrote an article about Scruggs for The New Yorker in January; it’s a much better tribute than I could ever hope to write, so I’ll just leave the link right here.

And of course…

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Spring Flowers: Siberian Squill

Posted on March 25, 2012 by daclaren

The Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica) wasn’t the very first flower I saw emerging this spring (or technically “spring” with quotes, since it was still winter), but it’s probably my favorite, so I decided to feature it first. I consider this flower to be my true harbinger of spring, as it usually doesn’t emerge until right around the actual vernal equinox. This winter, however, was very mild; as a result, many of the spring wildflowers started blooming early. The Siberian Squill was no exception, with the first flowers appearing on March 3! (Keep in mind that we don’t live at Starview permanently yet, so this may have happened even earlier…March 3 is simply the first date I observed the Squill in bloom.) That’s a full two weeks earlier than in the past two years, but it wasn’t particularly surprising, seeing as how the unusual weather patterns seemed to give the illusion that spring was already here.

For those who haven’t seen Siberian Squill before, they are a brilliant blue color that contrasts beautifully with their bright green stems and leaves. They’re only a few inches tall, and the flowers tend to nod over toward the ground, making it hard to get photos of anything other than the figurative “backs of their heads.” The ones in our woods are co-existing with a large patch of Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor), and when they’re in bloom simultaneously, it’s a beautiful sight!

Here’s a photo of Starview’s very first Siberian Squill of 2012, taken on March 3:

As you can see, it was just a tiny little thing at that time and didn’t really look like it was quite ready to wake up, but it couldn’t resist the warm temperatures! Looks kind of unremarkable at this point, but it’s still a beautiful thing to see amidst a woods that is mostly cold and dead-looking at this point, the ground still covered with the previous autumn’s castoff leaves.

Here are a few other photos as more of them started to emerge, taken on March 10, 11, and 13, respectively:

As you can see in that last photo, there were several others that were still working on coming out to greet the early spring.

By March 17, the Periwinkle was also in full bloom, making everything look wonderful…and it still wasn’t officially spring yet!

It’s been a few weeks since the Squill started blooming, and they’re starting to enter the late stage of their flowering phenophase, meaning that the flowers will start to die off soon. Some of them are looking a little pale or bleached-looking, while others (particularly those in the Periwinkle patch) are still bright blue and thriving.

Here’s a photo from March 22. As you can see, other ground cover is now surrounding the Squill, including Common Chickweed (Stellaria media) and Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica).

I’m not sure how much longer the flowers of the Siberian Squill will stick around, but they’ve had a great early run. They really cheer me up and get me ready for spring and summer!

More spring plants to come… :)

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Spring has arrived at Starview

Posted on March 24, 2012 by daclaren

Although it’s only officially been spring for a few days, the warmer weather has been here for nearly a month. It brought with it the usual signs of spring around Starview Homestead, including plants and animals, some of them several weeks ahead of schedule. I’m not sure what kind of phenological impact this early spring will have on the rest of the year, but it’s been interesting so far!

Over the next few days/weeks, I hope to add several new posts focusing on the signs of spring around our homestead. Not much happened over the winter, and the woods were quiet and barren, but all of that has been changing over the last couple of weeks.

I’ll save the photos for the upcoming posts, but here’s a listing of some of the wildflowers I’ve seen so far. The Ivy-leaved Speedwell and Henbit Deadnettle came first in late February (along with the usual Skunk Cabbage and some type of Cress that I have yet to identify), followed by Spring Beauty and Siberian Squill during the first week of March, and Periwinkle the following week. The Bloodroot started showing up in mid-March, as well as the wild Daffodils, Yellow Fumewort, Dutchman’s Breeches, and the first signs of Garlic Mustard. The first Trout Lily showed up on March 22, as did Grape Hyacinth and Blue Violet. Oh, and the Dandelions and Forsythia started fairly early in the month. By now, the flowering trees (including the odoriferous Bradford Pear and some type of Cherry tree) are in full bloom, attracting bees and bugs of all kinds. The turtles and frogs are out, and the birds are loving this weather!

So, as you can see, business is picking up at Starview. Soon, we’ll be spending some nights there and hopefully getting to work on the house! I’m definitely looking forward to spending more time there and hope to have lots more to share. In the meantime, I’ve got plenty of pics of spring happenings…coming soon!

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A quiet winter so far

Posted on February 13, 2012 by daclaren

I haven’t been around here much lately – obviously – as there really hasn’t been much going on here in town or at Starview Homestead. While our weather has been a bit colder, it’s still been relatively mild and mostly snow-free. I do miss how nice the snow makes everything look, but I don’t miss the bitterly cold temperatures we’ve had in recent years.

We weren’t having much luck with our first trail camera location (just photos of us), so we decided to move it so that it had a view of the travel trailer and yard. The good news is, we didn’t see any trespassers or anything that concerned us. The bad news – we got more photos of us, as well as lots of photos with zero wildlife and plenty of traffic from the road. (We weren’t sure whether or not the camera would be triggered by passing traffic; it is.) Delivery trucks, oil trucks, farm tractors, trucks hauling logs, garbage trucks, and even a rollback hauling away the neighbor’s car.

But still no wildlife! We know it’s there…there are tracks all over the place, but most of them are currently down in the woods, so we may have to move the camera there or buy a second camera to put down there. I do like the idea of having a camera at the current location for one of the aforementioned reasons – it will show us if we have trespassers of the human variety. We definitely have a great view of the yard, trailer, and shed from where the camera is currently posted, and it’s camouflaged enough that people won’t realize it’s there unless they already know.

Speaking of wildlife, I haven’t been seeing much of it lately. When I take treks through the woods, the only ones who usually join me are various small birds and the occasional squirrel. I constantly see deer and raccoon tracks, though, so I know they’re still there! On one of our recent visits, the weather was exceptionally warm, so I took a walk along the creek. This white-breasted nuthatch was especially interested in the focus beep from my digital camera:

I’d also been taking photos of the mid-afternoon moon through the trees, but my best moon photo of the day came after I’d returned to the trailer. There were a few turkey vultures flying over the neighbor’s woods, and they came close to the moon a few times. I managed to get this shot. This is NOT Photoshopped, although it was cropped and sharpened a bit.

Other than our weekly visit to Starview, not much has been going on around here. Work, eat, housework, sleep…lather, rinse, repeat. ;)

As a quick sidenote, this is the tenth anniversary of the death of my favorite singer, Waylon Jennings. Though he’s been gone for a decade, his legacy lives on through his music, family, friends, and fans. This is my favorite version of my favorite Waylon song, “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way,” performed with The Highwaymen, and with a great intro from Johnny Cash.

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