The may apples are finally blooming–now that it’s almost June, thanks I’m guessing to the chilly spring. I wouldn’t blame you for not noticing, though … …since when they bloom, they look like this. Go ahead. Find them! A large field of flat-topped five-lobbed leaves, and underneath every plant with two leaves, growing from theContinue reading “may apples”
Tag Archives: spring
For a Limited Time Only
The jack-in-the-pulpits are out, but not for much longer. Look for these small green flowers near old, fallen logs–but sometime in the next week or you’ll be out for another year.
Nearby Nature: wildlife vet
Frances wants to be a wildlife vet when she grows up. Until recently, it was just plain vet, from her lifelong fascination with animals of all kinds. You can imagine how excited she was when I told her that “wildlife vet” is a real job, not just some pie-in-the-sky fantasy she dreamed up. On theContinue reading “Nearby Nature: wildlife vet”
Near IS the New Far (or: I Told You So)
I became very afraid last weekend about the potential apocalypse. There I was, going about my regular business, when I saw this giant yellow flaming ball in the sky. Then I remembered that it was something called the sun, and usually heralded a good day to spend outside. I obliged. Mostly this consisted of yardContinue reading “Near IS the New Far (or: I Told You So)”
Look Small: Buds to Leaves
Have you ever noticed the way buds open, almost erupting as if in force of a slow-motion explosion? They don’t just open. They spill. Like milk spreading across a kitchen floor, or water boiling over a pot. Like a snake shedding a too-small skin. Most of the leaves around here are open, but a fewContinue reading “Look Small: Buds to Leaves”
Trout Lilies
(Mary Oliver) It happened that I couldn’t find in all my books more than a picture and a few words concerning the trout lily, so I shut my eyes. And let the darkness come in and roll me back. The old creek began to sing in my ears as it rolled along, like the hairContinue reading “Trout Lilies”
Kneeling at Easter to the Season’s First Bloodroot
It’s Easter … and I saw the season’s first bloodroot … and I did kneel, as a matter of fact. And why not? Why shouldn’t I? I found myself thinking, even–without remembering the poem I posted last year, linked above–that if there is a god, it is a wild thing that lives in the woods.Continue reading “Kneeling at Easter to the Season’s First Bloodroot”
Trout Lilies 2010, Part I
aka Dog Tooth Violet (This for Mary G). Around here, the very first of the trout lily leaves are appearing. Look for them at the base of large tree trunks, between exposed roots, on sun-facing southern slopes. The microclimate there is just warm enough to give them a head start. They will look like tightlyContinue reading “Trout Lilies 2010, Part I”
Forsythia
As promised. Again, forsythia is native to China, not Canada, but as it’s not invasive and it gives such cheery yellow blossoms at a time of year when almost everything else is still brown, I can’t help but like it. Apparently most birds and other wildlife give it a pass, so it’s not much forContinue reading “Forsythia”
Zoopolis 