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…

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.

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…