On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.
For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
A little froggy told me that we’re going to have some neat natural studies of pond life from today’s contributor soon – I can’t wait!
Today, pictures from valued commenter J R in WV.
Spring flowers in the yard, from April 08, 2018
Trout Lily blooms closed
Taken on 2018-04-08
In our yard
f/6.3 for 1/30 sec. at 30mm with flash
These trout lily flowers are closed because it was COLD again.
Trout Lily in the sun
Taken on 2018-04-08
In the yard
f/6.3 for 1/40 sec. at 30mm with flash
Violet Violet
Taken on 2018-04-08
In the yard
f/6.3 for 1/30 sec. at 30mm w flash.
Not all violets are violet!
Ramps spreading
Taken on 2018-04-08
In our yard
f/6.3 for 1/30 sec. at 30mm w flash
Ramps are a wild onion that grow profusely in the Appalachian woods, unless they are over-harvested, then they disappear until someone plants new stock. I planted these ramps which were extinct in our county from over-harvesting in the past.
Baby Trilliums
Taken on 2018-04-08
In the yard
f/4.9 for 1/100 sec. at 100mm
White Violets
Taken on 2018-04-08
In our yard
f/9.0 for 1/50 sec. at 49mm
Some violets are white, or yellow, or…
Bluebells closeup
Taken on 2018-04-08
In the back yard
f/8.0 for 1/40 sec at 40mm with flash
Thank you so much J R in WV, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
satby
Wildflowers! Thank you J R, I took the dogs out to another dusting of snow again this morning. No signs of wildflowers yet, and the early daffodils froze. My later ones appear to be in suspended animation, they stopped getting taller.
rikyrah
I guess this is a reminder that Spring will eventually come?
Currants
JR in WV: Thank you—LOVE the photos! I started ramps at my place a few years ago—got them at the Garden in the Woods (New England Wildflower Society). I tried a couple different locations, and figure it will take a few years before I can harvest anything but the leaves. But in the meantime, it’s such a kick to have them growing here! Also have the violets and bluebells, none of which are close to blooming yet because it’s still so cold, but they’re up.
Argiope
Wonderful photos, JR. Now I’m hoping to see those trillium fully grown in a few weeks.
Woodrowfan
who else is waiting anxiously to hear about Lily??
OzarkHillbilly
I love trout lilies, always get a kick out of seeing their 2 toned vegetation poking up thru last years leaves. Ours aren’t blooming yet. Everything is running 2-3 weeks behind due to our unusually cold spring. The service berries just now began to bloom and the end of March is normal for them. The red buds also just now began and the dogwoods aren’t even close.
MomSense
I love forest flowers. Can’t wait until I will get to see some along the trails.
@Woodrowfan:
All of us.
MelissaM
Trilliums! I redid a neglected bed at the edge of our drive/garage last year, and was gifted with another gardeners trash – a bag of hosta she had tried to kill but they overwintered. Among some of the hosta were trilliums, which I was able to tease out and plant. Most quickly died back after I planted them last May/June, which would have been normal, so this year I’m thrilled to see how much I have returning! Much more than I realized, so I wonder if there were more roots among the hosta that survived. Yay for fighter plants!
ThresherK
@MomSense: Yep. All of us.
In certain south-facing guarded areas forsythia are starting. And the things which will be daffodils are, just a bit.
However, it either hailed or sleeted on my car today.
Kristine
I love spring ephemerals. It’s been too cold here in far NE Illinois for them to emerge, but we’re supposedly going to warm up now so here’s hoping.
Trout lilies, anemones, and trilliums have migrated to my shady sideyard over the years. Lovely little flowers.
KS in MA
Thanks, J R –and thanks, Currants, for mentioning the NE Wildflower Society. Didn’t know about them!
WaterGirl
I can’t wait until my bluebells open. Thanks for the photo of yours!
J R in WV
Thanks all, We have heavy shade once the trees leaf out, which should be soon now, so all of our flowers are shade loving plants. Lots of hostas, which are just coming up, spider-wort which blooms in the sun and closes up at dusk, jack-in-the-pulpit, etc.
Waratah
The violets are so pretty. The bluebells gorgeous. This maybe the first time I have seen a trout lily and knew what it was.
I had not been aware of ramps until recently so thank you for a photo so I will know what they are.
jnfr
I used to see a lot of those same flowers when I lived in the Missouri Ozarks. Always lovely to find them coming up.
eclare
Lovely photos…
StringOnAStick
I’m a huge lover of native plants, so spring is the best when walking the foothills around Denver. This dry climate means I never see things like Trout Lilies; very nice!
Wanderer
Lovely wildflower photos. I am anxiously awaiting first sign of my double bloodwort. Wish the snow would stop.
J R in WV
Ramps look very much like Lily of the Valley, which are poisonous, of course some people think that of ramps, which are pungent in aroma, more so than in flavor. I don’t know what lily of the valley smells like… ramps are obviously of the onion/garlic family in aroma. Ramps don’t have the dangling blossoms of lily of the valley, which aren’t common on the forest floor where ramps are common.
They (ramps) mostly spread by underground runners, but do produce seeds, which have a poor germination rate. I plant them when I buy some from a roadside vendor who is keeping them in good shape. We eat a small mess of them, I plant most. They don’t take any care that I can tell, I will water newly planted ones if it’s really dry.
The fairy tale about ramps is that you will smell of them for days after eating them… I think this is only true if you don’t know about toothbrushes and cleaning up.
We also have wild iris, which are tiny versions of cultivated iris, but they’re not up yet, and seem to come and go as does jack-in-the-pulpit, which tends to run downhill as the seeds fall down.1