Lady Slipper

The first I've seen blooming this season.

Holly flowers

We all know the berries, but have you noticed these?
And you can see this spring's new leaf growth as well, and some "winter burn" or some such damage on a couple of the older leaves.
I'm not sure if this is Ilex aquifolium - English holly (I suspect it is), or Ilex opaca - American holly.  Either way, it is pretty.

kayak

Concord River

My husband and I got out for our first kayak of the season today.  It was a beautiful sunny day with just a light breeze and temps in the upper 60s.  We chose to head to a put-in not far from our house, since it was getting to be late morning by the time we got organized, but we decided to go downstream first, since we hardly ever do that and the wind was light.  As it turned out, the wind was with us as we paddled upstream on the way back and we didn't have to work too hard at all.  All in all, pretty much a perfect paddle.

We saw great blue herons, Canada geese, red-wing blackbirds, tree swallows, a red-tail hawk, a turkey vulture, several painted turtles and a snapping turtle.  We heard many, many birds without seeing them, and we saw a beaver lodge and lots of beaver chew, but no beavers.  We did, however, see several mysterious splashes.  As you can see in the photo, the leaves are not fully out yet, but they are coming - we are in full spring mode here in New England.

flowers!

forget-me-not - so cheerful and unassuming, they come up in different spots different years

violets - always so sweet - these grow all around my house, including these on my front walkway

trillium - I transplanted this from my neighbor several years ago - it hasn't spread, but it comes back every year (this hasn't fully opened, but it looks pretty this way also)

Japanese andromeda - I just learned the name of this one today, even though it's been here for years - not native, but not invasive, and quite sweet smelling (a robin has built a nest in the bush near my back door)

bloodroot - so this flower has already dropped its petals, but it is a very cool plant that is spread when ants take the seeds back to their tunnels where they then grow

shadbush - this looks better in real life than in a photo, but once this blooms I know spring has arrived