springgggggg

So much is happening so fast around here, I can't even keep track of it all. My stream, which babbles along merrily all winter, even under the ice, is fast becoming obscured from view as the skunk cabbages, ferns, and other wetland plants grow inches each day. I just love seeing the ferns unfurl, a little more each day. I still remember my grandfather sending us out to collect bracken fern to burn on summer evenings to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
Let's see - the mayapple is up, but I don't think it is blooming quite yet. The red baneberry is blooming. My dogwood blooms are turning white. The pine pollen is beginning to coat everything in a haze of yellow dust. The lady slippers are sprouting. I've seen orioles twice since I reported on it the other day. Those birds have such a lovely clear song, and such bright coloring. It is not nearly as good at the real thing, but this site has a quick video of an oriole. The black cohosh is growing, and my daylilies are getting taller by the minute. A few plants I bought last fall, when our local nursery was closing { : ( } seem to be doing well - a columbine, a goatsbeard, and a purple coneflower. I have both high- and lowbush blueberries, and see lots of blossoms on those.
I saw a cottontail when I was bringing in my laundry this afternoon, and my neighbor left a message on my machine that she had just seen a fisher walking along the stone wall that runs behind our houses. As I write this, I'm listening to a robin sing. I'm not really religious, but "all God's critters got a place in the choir" is one of my favorite songs, and I love how all those critters, and plants too, fit together and how the whole world works - as long as us big noisy stinky critters don't get in the way and mess it up too much!

Just to show how fast ferns can grow this time of year.... The first photo was taken 4/27/09 and the second 4/29/09. That oak leaf at the base of the clump should assure you that these are indeed photos of the same ferns. You'll have to take my word on the dates the pics were taken.