Spring BeautyClaytonia virginica
The photos do not do them justice, but the first wildflowers of the season are already blooming in Lanark, and although there were only two or three specimens of Spring Beauty in bloom yesterday morning, the woodland will be carpeted with them by next weekend, along with Hepaticas (Hepatica nobilis) and the first Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria).
There are buds on all the maples, and the first wild leeks (Allium tricoccum) are coming up down by the creek. The mottled leaves of the Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) are peeking out of last autumn's leaves here and there.
As I reclined tummy down in those dead leaves with my close-up lens trained on the tiny Spring Beauty blooms yesterday, the first heron of the season flew overhead croaking a greeting, and I called an ecstatic greeting back to her, thinking of a beloved friend who passed beyond the fields we know last summer, and how much she loved the great herons. Every time I took a heron photo, I sent it off to her at once.
Spring, my friends, is here at last, and even the vestiges of my lingering pneumonia can't cast a pall over Her vibrant presence in my beautiful highlands.
4 comments:
I had a few days away, and have returned to fnd Spring has arrived for you. I so love coming here, and the way in which you share your gifts, your photos, your exquisite choices of poems (that Li Young Lee poem is especially wonderful). Thank you, and I know you will be enjoying all the gifts that spring brings for you. Blessings to you.
What wonderful wildflowers you have - they are all fairly rare garden plants in UK. The Spring Beauty is such a lovely, delicate flower. Sorry to hear that you've been unwell, hope you will be back to full fitness very soon.
i am so glad you are enjoying the beginning of springtime. did i miss or forget this pneumonia information? i am sorry to hear you have been ill and hope you are doing a good job of taking care of yourself. living with the cold winters you have would give me pneumonia, too, especially if i took those long walks into the woods to feed the animals. i hope this new warmth of spring heals your lungs and gives you strength.
What a wonderful photo of delicate spring beauties! All your snow gone so fast, as it seems to us... your patience is rewarded at last. Your images and words refresh as the spring does. Thanks!If I may, please post the herons too! They are special...
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