Spring Plant Markers, Take Two
As regulars here know (both of you!) , there are signs of early Spring that resonate with me to the point that I make a point of checking on them. This is of course aside from the routine checking in on my own little vegetable and annual seedlings in the garden, a semi-daily monitoring of the passage of time.
My prime example is Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton spp. A truly gorgeous plant with just a wee bit of a funky odor issue for some. Full-on skunk is not for me, but I don't find this mild plant version really that bad.
It would be great to have a frog-hollow nearby - that would constitute another premier season-meter. Alas those amphibs, a great favorite of mine reaching back to childhood, when there was a mini-swamp ripe with riparian critters only a couple blocks from home, are on the decline. I greatly savor the infrequent encounters I have these days with frogs, salamanders, newts, toads, and their kin. Out of the city I know there is still opportunity to enjoy frog recitals if you are near a wetland. But not as commonplace as it was, alas.
When it comes to plants, there are other admirably attractive indicators of the onset of the growing season that are also fun to observe. Obviously the species vary depending on your local conditions and the endemic and habituated plants.
We had an uncharacteristic jolt to the system here recently when for almost a week we were hitting the upper 70's. We used to get through June in many years without having a week of steady 70-80 highs. But those unseasonal temps kicked a lot of plants in the butt, and I barely managed to catch up with my closest Handkerchief Tree (Davidia involucrata) and Oyama Magnolia (M. sieboldii) in Freeway Park in full bloom a week ago. These are exceptionally attractive tree/shrubs, the former much more prone to getting large than the latter. But both are lovely plants even when not showing off their reproductive organs and associated paraphernalia. But at the right time, they truly sizzle. No shyness here. Due to the uncharacteristic heat, their bloom was more or less done in less than a week.
May you be blessed with wonderful Spring species encounters.
My prime example is Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton spp. A truly gorgeous plant with just a wee bit of a funky odor issue for some. Full-on skunk is not for me, but I don't find this mild plant version really that bad.
It would be great to have a frog-hollow nearby - that would constitute another premier season-meter. Alas those amphibs, a great favorite of mine reaching back to childhood, when there was a mini-swamp ripe with riparian critters only a couple blocks from home, are on the decline. I greatly savor the infrequent encounters I have these days with frogs, salamanders, newts, toads, and their kin. Out of the city I know there is still opportunity to enjoy frog recitals if you are near a wetland. But not as commonplace as it was, alas.
When it comes to plants, there are other admirably attractive indicators of the onset of the growing season that are also fun to observe. Obviously the species vary depending on your local conditions and the endemic and habituated plants.
We had an uncharacteristic jolt to the system here recently when for almost a week we were hitting the upper 70's. We used to get through June in many years without having a week of steady 70-80 highs. But those unseasonal temps kicked a lot of plants in the butt, and I barely managed to catch up with my closest Handkerchief Tree (Davidia involucrata) and Oyama Magnolia (M. sieboldii) in Freeway Park in full bloom a week ago. These are exceptionally attractive tree/shrubs, the former much more prone to getting large than the latter. But both are lovely plants even when not showing off their reproductive organs and associated paraphernalia. But at the right time, they truly sizzle. No shyness here. Due to the uncharacteristic heat, their bloom was more or less done in less than a week.
May you be blessed with wonderful Spring species encounters.
posted by Sir Gumbo at 10:35 PM
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