Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Flower walking again


Dogwood. In the south, a tree traditionally connected with Easter - but since Easter was so early this year, it wasn't blooming then.


You fiddlehead! Fern unfurling.


Spiderwort. I've read that the stamens are very sensitive to radiation - they turn from blue/purple to pink.


Ground Cedar. A type of club moss. I transplanted this onto our property last week. I tried to match its original environment, but chances are not good that it will live - it's notoriously picky. But since it's from a wildflower rescue (dug where a subdivision is going up), it doesn't hurt to try. If you are local and want information about the Blount County (Alabama) wildflower society, email me: blog (at) naturalimpulse (dot) com.


Fire Pink. Speckled with pollen. It's called a "pink" because of the pinked edges of the flowers (as though they were cut with pinking shears).


Wood anemone.


The gall! This reminds me of "The Elephant Man".

I'm in a bit of a hurry today, so will have to come back and edit later with the latin names.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pics. The tree looks like it swallowed a hornet's nest.

amy said...

your photos are wonderful! i dusted off the old-fashioned nikon until i can get a new digital one. i love the sound of the old, though...like albums compared to cds.
anyway, enjoy the fire pinks.

megabeth said...

YAY! Fiddleheads!

Rurality said...

Thanks y'all.

That tree really is something, huh? I searched for stuff like "huge gall disease on beech trees" but didn't find anything so I guess it's not something I should chop down the tree over.

Amy, I know what you mean about the sound. I have my digital camera set to "mute" now, which I like better than the beeps.

Thanks Chris! I appreciate it.

SM, I thought about you when I was taking that picture. One of the wildflower people recently told me that you could eat the fiddleheads.

Charles said...

parking lots.

got any of them?

huh, huh, do ya??

maikopunk said...

I've been wanting to try harvesting and cooking fiddleheads. They are showing up in dishes of all the posh resturants that brag about "fresh, local, seasonal" cuisine. According to a local foodie magazine, EAT, you would cook them like an artichoke or asparagus: trimmed, boiled, and served with drizzled with something like butter, lemon juice, cream sauce, grated melty cheeses, or vinaigrette.

Rhodent said...

Great photos as usual...especially like the fiddlehead!

Rurality said...

Well Charles, not paved ones, at least not withing walking distance. :) Of course I think half the problem with the garden is that it used to be a parking lot.

Maikopunk, let me know if you try it! Whenever I start talking about harvesting something wild, my husband starts talking about stomach pumps, and asking if he should dial "9-1" and hold his finger over the other "1".

Thanks Rho!

Karen Schmautz said...

Our dogwoods are just beginning to bloom. We have a saying here that it has to snow once on the blooming dogwoods before winter is over. Last week it snowed on the dogwoods, so I'm hoping spring has sprung and I can hop in my rental Dodge Ram Pickup (actually not full size Dodge Ram) and run down to the local Deer Food Store (nursery)to get some plants to stick in the ground. Your pictures are great inspiration.

Patti said...

Whenever I manage to leave the chores and critters and kids and homeschooling and MESSY house and meander over to your blog (which occurs far too infrequently), I am struck by your photographs.

Stunning, truly. What kind of camera are you using?

We are in Central Texas where the wildflowers are impossibly gorgeous and profuse this year. Almost every day I find a new kind of flower on the farm. I started taking pictures of them with the thought to compile our own farm field guide, so to speak, but my digital just can't get the kind of quality on close-ups that I'm seeing here. Wow.

Rurality said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Rurality said...

Hick, I told DH about this term, and you'll be pleased to know we are now referring to all nurseries as "deer food stores". :)

Patti, thanks, it's an older camera, a Sony Mavica CD1000.

Not near as many pixels as I'd like (only 2.1M), but it does do nice macro shots.