Post your spring pictures here

[BrassMan]

As one who dwells in one of the lower places in the lower 48 states, I can assure those of you who live in the upper 48 that spring is indeed on its way. Here are some shots from our "yard" today, of bluebonnets (the state flower of Texas), an Indian paintbrush, and a still-blooming bluebonnet being visited by a bee that just cannot wait.



 

 

[nogdog~6op6ou]

Looks like some crocuses -- usually the first thing to bloom -- are starting to poke up here in Joisey, but we're probably a couple of weeks away yet from anything truly "springy".

[BrassMan]

Looks like some crocuses -- usually the first thing to bloom -- are starting to poke up here in Joisey, but we're probably a couple of weeks away yet from anything truly "springy".

Crocuses are springy! Especially when they're poking up through snow, which we don't have. Take a photo for us!

Here's one more odd sign of spring in south Texas. Live oak trees are weird. They don't shed their leaves on a regular schedule, nor do they bloom on one. Sometimes they do both at the same time, and sometimes they do both in the spring. Here's one of ours doing both:



This is not normally a problem unless it's a BIG tree, like 300 years old, and unless it's upwind from one's pool. This is a case of very bad planning:

[kory]

University of Washington 10 days ago.

[Carol Hanrahan]

Oh, I love these pictures!
Need more  Need more   Need more

[Susan in VA]

Beautiful pictures!  I don't have anything to add yet; the only thing blooming in my yard is the purchased potted pansies.  But the tulips are about five inches out of the ground, so it won't be too much longer!  

I used to have lots of crocuses...  then about two years ago they all disappeared.  No idea why.  

[BrassMan]

It looks like one of our olive trees is about to bloom for the first time ever:



And the wisteria will be fully in bloom in a matter of days, making the whole place smell like grape Kool Aid:

[BrassMan]

We don't have cherry trees  but we do have redbuds:

[BrassMan]

Here's a neighborhood on the other side of town. The flowers are Indian pinks (or Indian blankets), huisache daisies (yellow), and a few scattered bluebonnets and verbena, plus scads of tiny flowers that are too small to see. This is the first rainy year since 2007, so the flowers seem to be making up for lost time.

[Carol Hanrahan]

Great pics, Brassman!  Picture perfect!

[BrassMan]

OK, then, how about equal time for verbena? It's doing its part:

[ak rain]

I know I should not have looked at this thread. all I can say is maybe we won't be hiding eggs in the snow this year for first time in 3 years
sylvia

they are really great pictures

[BrassMan]

Bluebonnets are the state flower of Texas, and we do have fields of them here and there, but for our county the #1 flower is probably the huisache ("wee-satch") daisy. There are acres and acres of them, bright yellow, which shimmer like gold in the sunlight.

[BrassMan]

One more and I'll quit for now. This is wisteria. We should have half a patio of this hanging down, but the wind is howling 40 mph+ and they'll probably be on the ground by this evening.

[corkyb]

Sigh....Still have dirty snowbanks here and there, especially in the corners of parking lots.  Haven't even seen a crocus yet this year.  It will get here though.  It's actually been beautiful out.

[BrassMan]

Well, tomorrow is the first day of spring. Ironically, a cold front is due in South Texas about noon tomorrow. We may be close to freezing Sunday morning and Monday mornings. We'll have to protect our little tomato plants! If it's any comfort, corkyb, you wouldn't want to see pictures of this place from the last two springs, unless you have some weird liking for stubs of brown grass over bare dirt. It's all due to El Niño, apparently.

Be of good cheer. In two weeks you'll see things growing. In six weeks you may be complaining about the heat. I expect we will be.

[BrassMan]

Here's a picture just sent me by a distant cousin (I wish), actually a relative of my wife's, in Maryland--crocuses, working hard!

[telracs]

Hey, Brassman, come visit our flower a day thread and post some of your flowers there!

[BrassMan]

Found this field of Indian paintbrush out by the college today:

[BrassMan]

OK, here we go. This is very unusual: the blooming of a century plant. They don't exactly bloom once a century. Each plant blooms once and then dies, perhaps at twenty years of age or so. Also called agave, this is the plant tequila is made from.

The flower is incredible. I'll post pictures periodically. This picture, which I'll call day 1 (because we first noticed it today) shows the spike just emerging from the leaves--see the red "v" at the top of the picture. Any sci-fi writers who are looking for a triffid-like plant to put in a book should pay attention. It'll take months, but it's going to be unbelievable.

Note: center right is the stalk of the last bloom, from several years ago.

[corkyb]

OK, Brassman, I can't wait to see this flower.  The plant itself, even including the stalk, looks a lot like my yucca "grove".
Paula

[BrassMan]

OK, Brassman, I can't wait to see this flower.  The plant itself, even including the stalk, looks a lot like my yucca "grove".
Paula

Yuccas do bloom at the top of a stalk, but the plant doesn't die and the leaves, unless they are trimmed, make a drooping "coat" for the stalk. They're quite beautiful, but the century plant is several orders of magnitude different. My wife uses the dried skeleton of a century plant (about ten feet tall) as a Christmas tree. But that's only part of it....

The spike in the picture in the post above is already seven feet high. Remember: it's a single flower! Just wait--it'll take months to mature, but you won't believe it.

[BrassMan]

Last afternoon I went out and shot some of our yuccas near the house. There are different species of them, so your results may vary:



While I was at it, I shot that century plant spike from the ground. With the camera at the height of my head, you can see the stalk is already seven feet tall:

[leslieray]

These spring pictures are beatutiful! Thanks you to all that contributed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cheerio]

great pictures