From commentor Scout211:
The first of the native wildflowers are starting to show here in the wilds of Northern California. This is a sampling of the first wildflowers that appear in our area every year. All of the pics were taken the second week of March 2021.
At the top are Royal Larkspur (Delpphinium variegatum).
A field of Blue Dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus).
Henderson’s Shooting Stars (Primula hendersonii). This is the first year these have shown up on our property.
Frying Pans (Eshschozia lobbii). They often show up in a larger groups but on our property they show up in tiny groups or even just one or two.The wildflowers that show up in April and May are typically larger and more showy but it always makes us happy to welcome the first ones of the season.
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What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
Jeffery
I found a patch of trout lilies (Erythronium americanum) yesterday. I had planted them 10 or more years ago and they had never flowered. I thought they were gone. No idea if they will flower or not. No idea why they don’t. Very surprised to see them.
mrmoshpotato
Oh my!
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
OzarkHillbilly
@mrmoshpotato: The Blue Man group is sure to be looking for them.
JeanneT
These are lovely blossoms. Glad to start the day with them!
I need to say thanks for the encouragement I got here in the chat a few weeks ago – I now have sprouted seedlings of peppers, tomatoes and eggplants which should be ready to plant out in mid-late May.
So my question this week is what do you gardeners find as the best next step-pots for transplanting? Have you had good results using biodegradable pots, or do you favor reusable plastic?
raven
The garden club had a plant swap yesterday and they were all happy as clams at the turnout!
OzarkHillbilly
@JeanneT: When the roots start coming out the sides and bottoms of the 2×2 starter peat pot, I the pot and plant in a 3″ round peat pot and pack it around and beneath with more starter soil.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I see irises.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Beats me, she had people drop plants in the back of my truck during the week and I took them down and unloaded them. That is the extent of my knowledge of all things garden. I did sneak this shot of her pondering her work through a window screen !
WereBear
We had snow yesterday and it already melted. So some blossoms are coming soon!
JeanneT
@OzarkHillbilly: One vote for peat pots. Thanks!
raven
She can’t get too mad if I put up pics with her masked, can she???
raven
“Be weather aware today!”
mrmoshpotato
@raven: Good advice for every day.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Heh, they were the only things I recognized (2 pots, red and black, front and center) tho I could take wild guesses at a few others. If that were me and not your wife, the thought bubble would be, “Now what do I do???” As it’s her the thought bubble is probably, “A little of this and a little of that and it will all be perfect.”
Geminid
@raven: More tornado watches down south?
We’re getting rain in Virginia, with some thunder. Should be good digging conditions later on. Soil here went from sopping wet four weeks ago to bone dry, until the rain started again this past week. I’ll probably hit dry dirt 5-6″ down.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Sure she can, but just tell her I said of all the flowers at the swap meet, she was the prettiest.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: She has a personal relationship with her plants. I can do specific tasks when assigned but the wandering around looking for stuff is above my pay grade. She drops the “t” on perfect!
debbie
Listening to the wind-driven rain battering the magnolias. ??
JPL
@debbie: Our rain even won’t happen for a few hours.
Mousebumples
My crocuses are blooming and I have what i think are tulips coming up. (i half forget what i planted last year – might be daffodils or something). Trees are budding, the rosebush is looking good… Spring is almost here – though probably another few weeks until it’s safe to plant anything at risk of frost.
Thanks for the lovely pictures, Scout211!
OzarkHillbilly
Assuming all went according to plan, my teeny tiny 5′ nothing waif of a daughter in law went into labor at 5:30 this AM and hopefully at some point in time today will give birth to my 8+ pound granddaughter, Lyriel.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Further!
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: How exciting. Eli’s coming in July, and I couldn’t be happier. Being a gram is so much fun.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
Nice pics, Thanks for sharing. I wish I had wild Shooting Stars in our yard. The two species that occur here in PA are very rare.
Falling Diphthong
We finally had a lone crocus. In the middle of the lawn.
And then a few days later another, in the actual garden, and then more little purple dots that turned out to be crocuses, and now I’ve lost count.
I’m hoping the return to an echo of normalcy this summer unfolds like this. You do one thing that you haven’t for a year, and then gradually more and more missing bits of life unfurl in the summer sunshine.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Indeed, GD #3. GD #4 is due in September.
@JPL: Being Paw Paw is a lot more fun than being Pop. I get to teach them all the things their parents were hoping they’d never know.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Fingers crossed! Waifs are the strongest of us all!
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: congratulations! Now that will be a Spring Flower!
Should I be worried about your personal generational plan to rule the world through your grandchildren?
steppy
We spent pretty much all day yesterday spreading composted leaf mulch over the landscape beds. The daffodils and hyacinths are out on the south side of the house. Lilacs and hydrangea are showing new growth.
I started some Dr. Martin lima beans yesterday. Still have to build poles and trellis for those, because they will climb and get to 10 feet long. We got the seeds from a fellow member of the local beekeepers club.
We did our first at least partial inspections of the hives yesterday. Surprisingly, all 5 are almost uniformly strong and growing, with plenty of capped brood, larvae and eggs. The workers have found nectar and pollen somewhere. I didn’t see any drones yet but they will be coming soon.
I overseeded our new clover field (to replace useless lawn and provide food for the bees) before today’s rain. Also got some beet seeds into the garden just before the rain started in SE PA.
debbie
@JPL:
It’s the same system. Amazing in a not-good way that they are as large as they are now.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: My mother was also 5′ nothing. The old man was the first to admit she was the boss.
@Immanentize: Why worry about the inevitable?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Big baby!
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
It’s so good to see N. California wildflowers that haven’t been burned out! I know that most of the state didn’t burn, but it often seems that way from 3000 miles away. It’s such a beautiful state, especially in the north, I’m happy to see these reminders of it’s beauty.
We have Lenten roses, crocus, some of our daffodils, and forsythia. The peonies, false indigo and Siberian iris are poking their heads up, and the roses are beginning to leaf out. No buds on the wisteria yet, which is a good thing. There have been too many years when a late frost has led to heartbreak when branches loaded with with buds suddenly wilted and dropped. Watching to see which perennials come up again this year, and which need to be replaced. The little crepe myrtle we planted 20 years ago now shades the second story, so now we need to replace with shade-loving plants. We face south, so I don’t have much experience with shade-loving. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: That’s what everybody calls OH.
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): Oddly enough, some wildflowers only show up after fires.
laura
Yesterday I starter potted climbing nasturtiums, weeded the raised bed and the front yard bed and sowed scads of sweet peas and saw signs that two artichoke transplants have survived and are settling in. Oh, my aching aging bod – I’m all stove in today and will enjoy a motrin with a cuppa.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Yes I am. Why do you bring it up?
I see @?BillinGlendaleCA: beat me to it.
oldgold
@JPL:
Three Dog Night: Eli’s Coming .https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0CuNBengxaQ
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: What a lovely name – Lyriel.
No matter what time she is born, I hope you will come back to this thread and share the news.
scav
The local plant swap was last week, and I scored a tree kale (kinda purple! perennial! no idea where to put it, but see earlier), little sticks of red and white currants to start, and seed potatoes — I promise you, there were ornamentals at the swap. To continue with the food obsession, there’s a single apple limb flowering across the street and a sunny week promised in the upper left, so that’ll be good.
Steeplejack
@oldgold:
Damn, that was longer than Bleeding Gums Murphy doing the national anthem! And I like their version.
Let’s have Laura Nyro as a palate-cleanser.
oldgold
@Steeplejack:
Damn, you are correct.
BigJimSlade
@mrmoshpotato: I gotchyer blue dicks right here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/149867803@N04/41573037142/in/dateposted-public/
I’m in SoCal – they’re all over the place (in season – just coming out now) and very photogenic! We hike every weekend, so taking pictures of tiny flowers is kinda my thing. Helps me notice the world around me on a hike and distract me a bit from hours of effort.
@OzarkHillbilly: LOL – I was thinking of deleted scenes from Avatar or something.
J R in WV
It was really pretty Friday, sunny with lots of spring blooming going on. But I needed to run errands in town, and by the time I got home and unloaded stuff, I was pooped, so no photos yet. Saturday and today is really gloomy and overcast, also too.
So no photos yet, still… I want to get the tiny scarlet blooms on the tips of the maple tree branches, and the scads of daffydills of many varieties along the driveway, and the tadpole hatches, and the bluebells, and trout lilies, and ramp tips just out of the ground. And moss and new fern sprouts, etc.
I shouldn’t fuss about the rain, we needed it for spring to be as successful as it can be. But I hope to get a little bit of sunshine, and to take some new pictures of spring sproinging here on the forested hillside of WV.
Thanks for all the spring photos already posted!!
Yutsano
@OzarkHillbilly:
WOO-HOO!!! MAZEL TOV OH!!!