Spring begins

First day of spring. I leave work promptly at 6:30 and rush home to see what has changed in the garden.


Five days of soaking rain awakened my favorite wildflowers along the path. The flowers in this patch of bloodroot are huge this year.




I love bloodroot -- ugliest of names for the loveliest of wildflowers. I see a bee land on the bloodroot and fly away disappointed. Poor bee. Bloodroot has no nectar.

Trilliums are another favorite. Deer love to eat trilliums and these are the only ones that have escaped their midnight raids. These trilliums have the common name "Stinking Benjamin," but they don't smell bad -- really, they don't.

Golden ragwort is another misfortunately named wildflower. Their bright rayflowers cheer up the last days of winter.

Virginia bluebells along the path start out pink, then turn blue, just before they open.

Late winter/early spring is about gentle showers and native wildflowers.