Saturday, March 8, 2014

First wild blooms in my neighborhood

 I've been getting reports and photos of early spring wildflowers (even though it's still officially winter) from friends at lower elevations, and I figured it was time to go out looking in earnest at 3,500', plus or minus a few hundred.  The above photo looks like a lawn when you walk over it rapidly without looking down at the details.  Easy to overlook the tiny white flowers, Chickweed, a native of Europe.  It's a pretty little member of the Pink Family (Carnations, etc.), Caryophyllaceae.  You can get a closer look by clicking on the  photo.  But, I'll go you one better.  I picked one and held it in front of the trunk of a large White Alder tree.
 I then moved in still closer.
I was excited to photograph my first blooming wildflower, even though I've been posting a few photos of cultivated flowers in the neighborhood that always come out earlier.  Daffodils, Crocuses, and the like.  While wandering around my favorite photo spots in the Quincy vicinity, I saw lots of sprouts of the wildflowers that will be blooming soon.
I was so excited about finding the Chickweed, that I decided to "google" it.  Among the first 20 hits, there was a pretty good Wikipedia article on the plant and 19 websites of purveyors of herbicides.
You see, despite its beauty, its nutritional value, and its medicinal properties, it is a WEED, and we must hate weeds, musn't we?  So, let the springtime rants begin.  Writing again in defense of weeds, I am also excited that most likely tonight my blog will reach 90,000 page views!  I love round numbers, and I love knowing that there have been 90,000 visits.  There's nothing to sell here, either.  Just sharing the excitement of wandering and communing with nature.  I also love receiving questions and having people share their photos and observations. 

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