The Observation Deck

First crocus of Spring! Is it Spring?

I have seen two robins. Harder to get pictures of them.



Betsy Voinovich

It just HAD to be crocus!!! Much joy!!!

I have been meaning to rake away the leaves to start looking for for these darlings!!

My Snowdrops (Galanthus) have been blooming since late January.

.

_________________
Nothin' shakin' on Shakedown Street.
Used to be the heart of town.
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart.
You just gotta poke around.

Robert Hunter/Sometimes attributed to Ezra Pound.

Steve--

I think I'm going to need to see some photographic proof of that.

Betsy

Our house robins have indeed returned, and the daffodil sprouts are about 8 inches high. We've also seen dandelions as far back as a month ago. Not sure whether they've ever stopped blooming during our unusually mild winter season!

I've written about the humble dandelion in the Lakewood Observer. Back when I was on a dandelion removal mission around the house as a young man, my dear late mom stopped me. She said "Gary, those are a mother's flowers. They're the first flower given to a mother by a child. They're the first ones to come up in the springtime and the last to leave us in the fall. They are the flower of a child's love for their mother."

Something to think about...

Back to the banjo...

Hi Gary,
Thank you for the lovely words from your mother. I meant to get on here when you posted but it got away from me. In my house it's the white and pink clover flowers that were my childrens' first flowers for me, that I never want to weed away. I still have juice glasses full of clover flowers (which smell really good) whenever they're blooming. They're also good for necklaces, which we still make together when everyone is tired from racing around and we settle down at the end of the day in the summer.

Thanks for sharing your memories and reminding me of mine.

My daffodils are getting ready too.. any minute. I'll be there with my fabulous phone camera and post them here unless someone beats me to it.

Betsy Voinovich

While we are on the subject of weeds, let me toss these two pearls of wisdom of out:

"Don't water your weeds." ~Proverb

"Everyone has enough weeding to do in their own garden." ~Flemish proverb

As promised. These are tiny daffodils. Not sure what their technical name is. When we got home from school they were still buds, but by the time dinner was ready they looked like this.



It's still officially Winter!

Betsy Voinovich

Love these first flowers of Spring! Thanks for posting the photos.

_________________
Good Energy!

Hi Maggie,

I love them too. I remember with my first baby--who was born at the beginning of the coldest January I ever experienced--watching with him for every tiny sign of Spring. Every day was a new miracle--we didn't miss any. Every Spring I remember that, and stop and take the time.

Here are today's miracles:



These little plants bloomed today. The blossoms are actually only about as big as a fingernail. We call them mini-irises, though actually I have no idea what they are. Can anyone tell me?



That's right. Fresh broccoli tonight! This bloomed over night. The plants I have (from Lakewood Garden Center, purchased and planted LAST Spring) bloomed periodically throughout this weird Winter. I didn't think broccoli was a perennial plant. I actually think that these particular ones have no idea what season it is. We will be eating these little florets in about 10 minutes.

More tomorrow I think.

Betsy Voinovich

First tulip! March 18th!



These tiny white violets come up on only one lawn on our street. I remember them clutched in chubby fists. (Our neighbors don't mind. They come up in the middle of the lawn.) This picture shows them larger than actual size. You can get the right idea from looking at the blades of grass around them.



First flowering tree! I don't know what kind of tree it is, only that it's been trying to bloom since December.



I'm choosing not to see any of these as a signs of the Apocalpyse. We're just enjoying an early Spring.

Go outside!


Betsy Voinovich

Just fyi, Betsy, I think that flowering tree is a Star Magnolia. It's a little hard to tell, but if the flowers are white and they look a little like a large Daisy when they open, that's what it is. It's usually the first ornamental tree to bloom.

The small Daffodils are generally called Miniature or Dwarf Daffodils. Oddly, Daffodil's technical name is trumpet narcissus (Narcissus pseudonarcissus).

Just file under 'G' for General knowledge.

John

_________________
ISA Certified Arborist
PlanetCare Landscape Services

"Touch trees" - Dr. Alex Shigo

Hi John,

Thanks for the info. With so many flowers blooming so early, I couldn't keep up. There's a beautiful yellow Magnolia (I think) on my mom's street. I've never seen one with yellow flowers but they are the same shape as the pink ones.

I'm pretty sure this is an iris, and it's the first one on my street. (We'll also be eating more broccoli from the garden tonight.)




Betsy Voinovich

Betsy --- How do we know that these aren't just pics from the Botanical Gardens? I mean the CVS bike rack has some visual references, but these flowers are just-----------flowers
Stan

Wow Stan thanks for thinking that my homegrown irises resemble those produced by the Botanical gardens. Does this photo help?



Oh, wait a second, I could have brought the newspaper and the tax forms with me, into the Botanical gardens. Man. Okay. Back to the driveway.



Okay. I suppose that there is no proof that that is my driveway, but I think that's about the best I can do. I'm lucky that the wind hasn't blown it away.

Betsy Voinovich