Wednesday, April 3, 2013

All In the Neighborhood

 Not only is the Spring Whitlow Grass one of the earliest bloomers, but is already going to seed.  A very fast life cycle, and it will go through several before many other species bloom for the first time.
These were photographed in the depressions at the top of a cinder block wall on Coburn St.
 At the foot of the same wall there's a nice crop of early Dandelions.  The herbicides will probably arrive soon.  But the dandelions will prevail anyway.
 Chickweed, growing among the cultivated flowers around the museum.
 Lilies of the field, in the lawn of the corner house owned by the museum.  I forgot the name, but I'll insert it later.  Please don't mow for a while.  This is a nice scene.
 These lilies have many names, one of which is Hyacinth.  But there are many other flowers named hyacinth.  Better learn some Latin.
 Miner's lettuce on Main Street.
 Saw this Filaree blooming, went home to get the camera, and by the time I got back, the wind had knocked off the petals.
 A little further down the street there were some survivors.  This "weed" is a wild geranium.
 Henbit Dead Nettle, a mint without an aroma, at least to the human nose.  There are probably some bugs that can smell it.
                                         Burr Clover, a close relative of Alfalfa. 
                                        A close-up of Burr Clover.

2 comments:

  1. The blue bulb is Grape Hyacinth, Muscari, probably Muscari armeniacum. Very common in the bulb catalogs. It's a nice one, as it usually propagates very easily. Love that blue color...

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  2. Thanks Charlie. Sandy Steinman also sent me that info. On this particular post I chose not to include Latin names because I wanted to emphasize the ease with which an observant person could find lots to like right in town and that the ones we often call weeds are really an asset. I've found Grape Hyacinth out in the forest, far from current roads, and almost always it's a clue the spot was once inhabited. Sure enough, I end up finding old bottles, wire, tools, etc. There's often one or more apple trees nearby, also. Further evidence of past inhabitants.

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