Hot, Cold, Hot, Cold

That’s the way this spring has been so far, hasn’t it? The bloom schedule seems to be pretty normal this year though, which is kind of nice. I for one have been a little thankful for the cool spells because I feel that it helps prolong the bloom time for some of our spring flowers.

I really love this point in spring. Everything is flush with that new light green color and it can look so vibrant! Another thing that I love about this time of year are the pink crab apple trees that bloom in folk’s yards. We have one here just outside the Nature Center that grows in between a couple of redbud trees. They often bloom at the same time (like this year) and the effect is spectacular. Check it out!

Other spring surprises await the keen observer. This one is hard to find even if you know where and what to look for! Pennywort is in the Gentian family. It is very small, but very pretty. What do you think?

We have 10 different species of violets that bloom in the spring and one of the easiest to identify is the long-spur violet. Can you guess why it’s called that? The spur on this flower is so long that you can see it without bending over. It even shows up in this picture. You can see this violet at the “junction” of the Shelter Trail. This is the center of the figure eight shape that the trail makes.

A new yellow flower has just come into bloom. This is a buttercup. Our lists have it as swamp buttercup, but these things can be tricky. I took a photo of this flower because of how shiny it looked. I was very pleased that it showed up so well in the picture. This really is how my eye saw it. These guys grow in the Deer Meadow and by Bridge 7.

So here is your complete list of new flowers in bloom:

Redbud
Dogwood
Forget-me-not
Pennywort
Early Saxifrage
Swamp Buttercup
Crabapple – pink and white
Long-spur Violet
Three-lobed Violet
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Wild Ginger
Bugle
Spring Cress
Forget-me-not

Hope to see you out here soon, the trails are waiting!