Friday, March 25, 2011

Spring is here

All of our native trees are leafing out, the early-flowering Asian speices (think Magnolia, Prunus, and Forsythia) are well along, with native woodland wildflowers in flower, too.

If you can, come spend some time in the Garden.  It's a special place in spring, and in any time of the year.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Spring!

If you haven't visited the Garden lately, it's starting to shake off winter and embrace spring.  Seasonal change is here, with our native woodland trees just starting to expand their leaves. 

Spring wildflowers in the Woodland Wildflower Garden are well along, with Oconee Bells, Trout Lilies, and Little Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum) in flower, and Mayapple foliage quite apparent.

The spring migrant birds are starting to come through, and our winter residents are departing.

It's a great time to visit!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A yellow-bellied sapsucker

A glimpse of a woodpecker on a lunchtime walk turned out to be a male yellow-bellied sapsucker, working through an already marked tree.  The sapsucker 'wells' are used primarily to trap insects, which are consumed, but secondarily serve other birds, such as ruby-throated hummingbirds, and probably insects, etc. 

Hummingbirds track the sapsuckers on their northern migration.   The sapsuckers are still here (they're winter residents), and the ruby-throated hummingbirds have been seen in Texas. 

But spring migration is on the way.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Spring is definitely here

Oconee Bells, Trout Lilies and Hepatica are flowering now in the Woodland Wildflower Garden, and the mayapple foliage is emerging.

Buds are swollen on hickories and buckeyes, and alders, birches, and elms are producing pollen (achoo!)

We're seeing the first wave of early migrant birds in the Garden, as well as the last of our winter residents, as they depart for their northern breeding grounds.

Star Magnolias and Saucer Magnolias are as nice as I remember ever seeing them.  With a warm February, the buds weren't nipped by frosts so they're in full flower.  The Edgeworthia (Paperbush) pair in front of the Hayden Conference Center are lovely and fragrant;  oddly late this year, probably because of the January cold.

The odd overlaps in flowering times are because of the unusual winter cold, followed by an remarkably warm February, I suspect.

Of course, I didn't have my camera at work today, so I'll try to post a few photos tomorrow.