Well, my photo hosting at Zoto is no more, so please bear with me – our forested header and icons will return shortly!
As you can see, Spring is not far off here outside Philadelphia!
Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of joining my landlady for a little stroll through a part of the farm that I had not yet explored.
This northeastern-most corner runs up against the surrounding development, but is still heavily treed, much to my extreme pleasure. As the landlady and I wandered around she pointed out where gardens and other structures once stood, where the old driveway used to run a mile out to the highway, and told some of the memories she has of who planted what, when, and why.
At one point, she remarked, “You know, I haven’t visited this part of the property in over a year!” This news made me feel good, as well as a little surprised: it’s a beautiful corner thick with stately, old trees, sapling thickets, and semi-naturalized garden flowers. I was glad that walking with me was the excuse she needed to walk over and see how beautiful it all still is, no matter how overgrown.
How about you? When you gaze out in your yards, or parks, or other surrounding green spaces, which ones do you walk by each day without ever peeking in? Have a look sometime. You’ll never know when you’ll find a surprise lurking in the brush, as we did in the final two images.
Coming up we’ll be investigating some of the trees I found in the northeastern corner, as well as some more of the trees blossoming along the driveway.
I found these gorgeous little blue flowers sprouting near the place where I first spotted the winter aconite weeks ago. It’s a wonderful, cheery little flower growing beneath many trees who have yet to push forth their leaves. Notice how happy they are emerging from the blanket of the trees' leaves from seasons past.
While chatting with my landlady yesterday, I learned that these little flowers were originally brought direct from England by her mother many years ago. She even offered to have me come and collect some to plant around my cottage! Guess whom I have a date with this morning? I'll be sure to ask her to remind me of their name, so I can share it with you!
Greetings Arborealists! I hope that you all had a wonderful week and a fabulous full moon. As for me, I woke up in the dark of Monday morning with a terrible flu! After being unable to do almost anything all week long, I am finally starting to feel semi-normal. And guess what happened while I was sick in bed?
This…
and THIS…
and this…
and these...
and of course, these too...
Yes, while I was sick in bed, Springtime decided to make herself known. And so, with three more days until the Vernal Equinox, here in eastern Pennsylvania we at last see the beginnings of the coming season in the most beautiful of places.
What wonders hide beneath the earth, just waiting for the sun and rain to coax them forth again!
This week brought a lovely warm spell to my home, coaxing out the first fresh green leaves on a young tree in the backyard. The bud burst has begun!
While happily trying my best to capture some images of these first leaves for you, I stumbled upon another early springtime wonder: the croci. But they aren’t at all where I expected them to be! I found the purple crocus popping up out of some leaf litter just beside the driveway. The surrounding greenery is some type of ground cover, the name of which I do not yet know.
In the mean time, I have huge patches of swelling flower bulbs just aching to open – and I have no idea what they are. My best guess is that they might be some type of small daffodil. It would be grand if they were hyacinth, but the greens look too short. Then again, at this point, I’d believe ANYTHING is possible! Stay tuned!
Yesterday my order of organic bird seed arrived while I was sleeping off a migraine. That afternoon I eagerly tossed handfuls of seed beneath the evergreen tree outside my window. It’s been rather cold around here, and I figured it was high time I start doing my share to give back to the local wildlife.
I was hoping not only to help the birds through the cold spell, but also to improve my chances of getting some pictures. As I’ve mentioned before, the birds around here are plentiful and beautiful! This morning, upon awakening, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, fed the dogs, put on my glasses, and went to sit down by the window and wait to see who came for the feast.
As I looked at the seed on the ground below, I noticed that many of the peanuts (which are a part of one of the bird seed mixes) had already been cracked open. Assuming the squirrels had arrived first, I began to scan the ground for grey fluffy tails. About two seconds later, a beautiful, black-eared, golden-red fox strolled over, and proceeded to happily make breakfast out of the seeds and nuts!
It was the most amazing sight! I’ve seen foxes from a distance trotting around the farm, but this was as close as I’ve ever gotten to a fox. I happily observed her/him for a good fifteen minutes munching away at the sunflower seeds. The fox was obviously picking out the good ones, and seemed much happier with some of the smaller seeds as opposed to the peanuts.
After the fox went on its way, I went out to look around a little, and found the flowers you see in the above picture just beyond the tree. I believe that these are called snowdrops. Having bloomed only in the last day, they have managed to precede the crocus who have been diligently swelling for weeks now. I know that those croci are going to open sometime soon… perhaps this week?
I found some more flowers today! These popped up in front of another one of the many small structures sprinkled across what remains of this old farm.
One of the first trees to catch my eye upon my first visit to this property is an old tree, species as yet unknown to me, which grows along the driveway a ways up from my cottage. It has beautiful burls and tons of character, and appears to drop nuts in the autumn (based on the casings I've found in the leaf litter).
Reaching out in many directions, this tree is a challenge for me to photograph – there is no way I can get it all in one shot unless I stand far away, which means you can’t enjoy the detail. While I work out just how to share it with you, please enjoy what I found beneath it: the first flowers of the season, and somebody’s root-home.
The flowers look like what I know to be buttercups, except they aren’t growing like buttercups! The buttercups I know grow tall and bushy like herb robert, with broad, dark, fuzzy greens. These buttercups hug the ground and bear a sort of an “Elizabethan neck frill” of green leaves. They are a beautiful and welcome sight, nonetheless.
As for the little root-burrow, I have no idea who lives here! However, I have seen foxes, rabbits, mice, and other burrowing creatures in the area. I suppose I’ll have to scout before sunup to learn just who calls this quiet nook home.
Here is this morning’s picture of some croci growing at the feet of the trees. They have reemerged from beneath the snow blanket with admirable fortitude! The sun and clear skies are warm in appearance only – it is literally freezing out there.
The beautiful snow-covered tree you see is situated near the beginning of our winding driveway. This is one of the final images from last weekend’s snowstorm, now but a melted memory.
PS - Trailhead, I looked it up - the dictionary says that the plural of crocus can be written either as crocuses or as croci. The same follows for cactus, and for octopus (one of my FAVORITE animals!). Ok, there's your English lesson for the day folks. :)
Greetings and welcome to Arboreality, home of the tree blog. Arboreality is a blog about trees, forests, and wood, and everything in between. Join me to enjoy some of my day-to-day arboreal encounters.
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