Jack’s Walk

Well, hello my lovely, ©voyager, all rights reserved

The weather has been decidedly cold over the past few weeks, and it put our burgeoning spring on hold. Any bulb flowers that were up just stopped growing, and so did all the buds on trees and shrubs. It’s depressing to walk past so many flowers day after day, hoping for a bit of colour and seeing no change at all.
This week, though, has been warmer and rainy, and the flowers have been persuaded to get growing. Today we found our first purple of the year and a small patch of delicate white snowdrops. By tomorrow we should see open tulips in a rainbow of colours, along with sunny yellow daffodils and delicate pink hyacinths. The rain is supposed to stop over the weekend, and we might actually get a warm, sunny day that invites me outdoors to be amongst the flowers. I am positively humming with joyous anticipation.

Jack’s Walk

First trilliums of the year, ©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s been a beautiful, sunny day and spring has decided to kick into high gear. Today we found may-apple, trout lilies and a small grouping of trilliums that are probably red because the red ones always come up first.  I carefully noted the spot and will try to get photos of them in bloom. I say ‘try’ because red trilliums are quite short-lived, often lasting only a day or two after they bloom. They’re also more fragile than the white ones. They’re thinner and more transparent, and their stems droop, so you need to photograph them from underneath. As you might imagine, at my age, getting underneath a short flower isn’t something you attempt willy-nilly. You need to make sure that a) you have room to maneuver, b) there is something to hold on to (sturdy saplings are preferred), and c) you have someone with you in case of emergency. The expression “Help. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” isn’t as funny as it used to be.

Stay sane out there.

Vetch

Our Monday flowers from Nightjar are  here,

I think this vetch is Vicia angustifolia, a wild relative of fava bean and pea plants. Even though I can only do short walks near my house now, I don’t think I will run out of wildflowers any time soon. There’s a lot of diversity around here right now. I hope you are all well, stay safe!

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

It’s a Damned Yellow Composite

Nightjar has sent us some bright yellow flowers to brighten our week.

Today’s flower is a… well, let’s call it a DYC, Damned Yellow Composite. I can never tell them apart and it’s not really important. And I also can’t identify the flies (I think?) that are visiting the flowers, so it’s all around an ID fail from me. I still hope they cheer you up!

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Wild Hyacinths

From Nightjar,

After last week’s wild daffodils I bring you more spring bulbs… wild hyacinths! Well, kind of, I think these are actually squills (Scilla sp.) but they belong to the same family and I’ve always called them that. They’re everywhere right now. Two of these photos have a bonus little spider.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

The rest of the pictures are below the fold in case any of you don’t want to see the spider. I happen to think the spider is adorable, and the rest of the photos are gorgeous. The light in the second to last photo is breathtaking.

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Spring is Coming

And it doesn’t give a single fuck about out human woes.

It is still beautiful.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

©Giliell, all rights reserved

The weather is brilliant here after weeks of rain and we used it for a walk in the woods and some gardening.

Wild Daffodils

Spring bulbs are blooming in Portugal and Nightjar is sharing.

I have a few daffodils blooming in my garden right now, but it turns out that hunting wildflowers is more fun. It is the season for wild daffodils and, in my case, it’s also the right place to look for them. The Mediterranean region is the natural range of the genus Narcissus and the Iberian Peninsula is considered to be its center of diversity, meaning this is where the genus first developed its distinctive characteristics. The petticoat daffodil, Narcissus bulbocodium, is the species I’m most familiar with as I know exactly where to find it every year. The flowers are very delicate and tiny (wikipedia says its floral diameter is 12 mm, which makes it the smallest among Narcissus) but the way it glows in the sun is magnificent. Photos are from late February. I hope you enjoy them!

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Voila, la Viola

Nightjar has been searching out wildflowers for us,

Viola riviniana or dog-violet. A completely unexpected find, not only because it is too early for wild violets but also because I rarely find completely white dog-violets. And there were only white violets, no signs of any purple ones nearby. I expect that to change in about a month from now.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Speedwell, Veronica

Our weekly flowers from Nightjar are here, and they look frosted with fairy dust.

Veronica persica or winter speedwell. These tiny blue flowers measure about one centimeter and are very common here in winter, especially in cultivated fields. They are so small to the naked eye that I never noticed how beautiful and shiny they are before seeing their photos on the computer.

Veronica, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved