Design

We came back down the Blue Ridge escarpment from the mountains today to spring in full flower.  It's happening in the mountains, to be sure.  The daffodils, cherry trees, hyacinths, forsythia, and narcissus are in full bloom there, with tulips just emerging. Dogwood, sassafras, and butterfly bush (with white pine in back) But at home in the Piedmont, spring has exploded.  Oaks are in flower now (snuffle), dogwoods are getting close to being at peak, redbuds are in flower, leaves have expanded, etc., etc.

The Iris cristata foliage is up, buds of the hickories, oaks, and blueberry relatives are swollen, and the songs of birds are louder than ever in the morning.  Spring is progressing.  Bloodroot ( Sanguinaria canadensis ), Spring, 2010 The bloodroot plants along the front walk are flowering, although there's still no competition to last year's flowering (above). It's still early, though, and a few years ago, we experienced a significant late April 8 (Easter that year) freeze.  It caused a lot of freeze damage, even to native plants, as it was a hard freeze, much later than usual. But this has been a year for enjoying the non-native Magnolia stellata and M. acuminata flowers, following a long warm February. Erratic weather is something that is predicted to become more common, as the climate changes.  It's worrisome, to be sure.

There are unmistakable signs of spring now, in spite of the cold weather predicted to come. The star magnolia ( Magnolia stellata ) near the Nature Center at the Garden is showing a hint of white petals; the Edgeworthia crysantha (paperbush) in front of the building is finally starting to be fragrant, with a few expanded flowers. And, the crocus, snowdrops, and Japanese apricots are in full flower. At home, blueberry flower buds have noticeably expanded beyond their earlier size, and the winter honeysuckle continues to bloom. Red maple fruits fuzz the branches with red and the early alder, cedar, and birch pollen is bothering pollen-sensitive folks - snuffle, snuffle, or achoo-achoo!

Even though winter is still firmly here, the signs of spring are evident in swelling flower buds (blueberries, quince, etc), extended shoots (coral honeysuckle and Carolina jessamine), and the reliably open flowers of mid-winter in our part of the world: Lonicera fragrantissima (Winter honeysuckle) and Prunus mume (Japanese apricot). There are actually some open flowers of Carolina jessamine (a native species) on the front porch! The usually stalwart camellias are slowly showing expanding buds and open flowers, but probably many experienced damage from the exceptional cold of a few weeks back. The red-flowered Professor Sargent in front of the house is just beginning to show some color. A cold winter and clear winter air reminds me that winter is still here, but the bright light of mid-day and signs of spring to come from flora and fauna are encouraging.

It was a lovely day spent gardening. Today is Easter for Christians, and even though we're not religious, as a secular holiday, it has symbolism as a time of rebirth. Spring is here. A newly mown 'lawn', borders and meadow edited of winter annuals, a flourishing vegetable patch, and all's right in the garden. And now, about to have our dinner with greens and lettuces freshly harvested, looking out my study window, our first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season visited a few of the Carolina Jessamine flowers on the trellis out the window. Hooray!

A spring night hike found us listening to early crickets, tree frogs, the final songs of resident cardinals, mockingbirds, and chickadees. It was a mild evening, a bit humid, but with signs of spring all around. There were more family groups this time (this is school spring break), and more than I expected (~ 40 people). A couple of highlights were watching bats swoop around catching insects, and the flashes of lightning 'bugs' high in the oak-hickory forest. It's really early for lightning bugs; the warm weather probably encouraged them.