Looking back

Eye fun

When leaving, a look back to see what you are leaving looks like leaves you with an impression of where you were.  

This late afternoon sun lit spring scene is presented as a relaxed view 3d stereograph.

Bees and crocuses

Two bees in the blossoms

It is spring, it is warm and sunny, and the crocus flowers are open.  For a day or three, it gets warm - very, very warm.  So warm, that one can smell the sweetness of the crocus blossoms.  And, hear the bees buzzing among the blossoms.  It is a feeding frenzy.  

Five bees among the blossoms

Where they come from, where they go afterwards - who knows.  But for that day or two, the flowers are filled with fresh, sweet nectar, ripe pollen - and bees. 

Crocuses by the step

Crocuses at the step

Many items are measured "by the ...".  These crocuses, and a few snowdrops, are "by the step".

Aquilegia

Aquilegia, also know as Columbine, is a genus of perennial plant with some sixty to seventy species.  This is one of those.

Aquilegia, no. 1 

Aquilegia, no. 2 

Aquilegia, no. 3 

Aquilegia, no 4 

Aquilegia, no. 5 

This particular columbine is a wilding.  

Papaver orientale

Papaver orientale (oriental poppy) flower pod 

Encased in droplets from the morning fog, this oriental poppy flower pod snakes out of the foliage and into the open.

Papaver orientale flower

The water droplets create a different texture for this drooping poppy flower.

Papaver orientale seed pod and flower 

The seed pod and flower of this papaver orientale cultivar.  

Eleven o'clock lady

Nap at noon in bloom

This cluster of Ornithogalum umbellatum waited for a warm and sunny day in early May to bloom.  A perennial bulb that can be invasive, this six petaled white spring flower is commonly known as "nap-at-noon", "eleven-o'clock lady", or "star of Bethlehem".

Trout lily

Closed flowers on a cloudy day

The mottled markings on the leaves of the trout lily (Erythronium americanum) resemble those on a brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis).   Both are native to the eastern part of North America.

Sunny day - flowers open! 

That insect has crawled behind the flowers

There it is, hanging on 

N.B.:  the photographs are of the same plant but were taken at different times and angles.

Willow bloom for me

Spring means flowering willows.

Catkins with cottony seeds

This willow is an early bloomer and the cottony fluff is ready to be carried off by a breeze.

Black willow (Salix nigra) 

The black willow catkin looks like a multilegged caterpillar.

Pussy willow (Salix discolor)

These open pussy willow flowers show off their anthers with the yellow pollen.

Seed pod

This seed pod from the previous year awaits dispersal.

Crocusi

Crocus cornucopia 

A cascading cavalcade of creeping crocuses greets the visitor at the front steps.

Red trillium

Trillium erectum L.

It is always a thrill to see trillium in the spring.