Seasons Archives - Page 21 of 21 - Betty Hall Photography

Redbud time in Kentucky

It’s redbud (Cercis canadensis) time in Kentucky. I love seeing all the pink along our roads and highways. However, my favorite is the one that’s blooming in our backyard. I enjoy its big splash of pink and the lacy texture of the blossoms. As the flowers begin to drop, I’ll enjoy the tiny red heart-shaped leaves. These will turn green as they grow larger and I’ll enjoy them all summer.

This is the tree soon after it was planted five years ago. When we reworked the backyard, we added three new native trees – a redbud, bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), and black gum or tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica). We’ve been pleasantly surprised at how fast they have grown.

I’ve always liked trees, and I’ve recently become aware of how important they are to a healthy environment. In particular, native trees are nurseries for many kinds of insects, which are essential to nature’s food chain. For example, birds depend on insects as food for themselves and their young. If we don’t have insects, we won’t have birds.

I enjoy our trees and the wildlife they bring to our backyard. It’s exciting to see another season of growth begin.

Celandine Poppy – Easter 2010

This was a bright spot of yellow in the backyard on Easter Sunday. It was the first blossom of the celandine poppy or wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) which is one of my favorite backyard plants. I can usually count on lots of bright yellow blossoms in April. If I remove the old flowers, I will likely have blooms until late summer. It’s a hardy plant, and it grows in dry shade. In addition, I like the texture of its foliage.

The poppy is the brightest spot in the shade garden right now, but other blossoms include sessile trillium, Dutchman’s britches, anemones, Virginia bluebells, wild ginger, and bellworts. I enjoyed finding these these same flowers blooming abundantly in the woods this past weekend, and it was nice to come home and see them in my own backyard.

First spring bloom – Hepatica

Spring has arrived in our backyard. Five years ago we replanted the backyard focusing on Kentucky native plants and shrubs that would attract birds and butterflies. It’s been an enjoyable and ongoing learning experience and I’m glad to be at the start of another growing season.

I was delighted this past week to discover the very first bloom of the season, a small 3/4 inch hepatica blossom (Hepatica acutiloba). This one is growing in dry shade conditions under our large pine tree along with several other native spring wildflowers. I look forward to more blooms soon.

I also like the distinctive hepatica foliage that will appear later in the spring and be attractive all summer (photo above). The leaves often turn bronze to dark red in winter. The leaves also give the plant its name. Hepaticus means “of the liver” in Latin, and refers to the three-lobed shape of leaves.

I’ve long enjoyed native Kentucky wildflowers in the woods in early spring. Now it’s a special treat to have some of them close-at-hand.

Tadpoles and Polliwogs

Can I grow a frog? Time will tell. I now know that tadpoles and polliwogs are both names for the early life stage of frogs and they are the subject of my latest learning adventure.

A friend who lives in the country brought me frog eggs last week. They were small black ovals in a clear jelly-like blob. Two days later, I was delighted to see tadpoles swimming in the water.

I did some research to find out how to take care of these wee ones and the information at How to Raise Tadpoles was especially helpful. My current plan is to:

Provide them with clean non-chlorinated water (preferably rain water).
Feed them small bits of cooked spinach or lettuce.
Watch them grow!

The tadpoles are now six days old and about one-half inch long. For a closer look, I used a magnifying glass and was surprised to see details I hadn’t noticed before. I like their mottled coloring, the two big eyes and I’m fascinated by their feathery gills.

I was pleased to be able to capture these details using the macro setting on my small point and shoot camera. This is another instance of how taking a closer look has given me a different perspective and a renewed appreciation for the wonders of nature.

Scarlet Cup Mushroom (Sarcoscypha coccinea)

Mushrooms seem magical to me. I found these last weekend at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, near Slade, KY. I was looking and hoping for signs of spring and not having much luck. Then I spied these small, bright red mushrooms peeking out from the brown and gray leaves and twigs. The largest one was about the size of a silver dollar.

Later, I checked The Mushroom Hunter’s Field Guide by Alexander H. Smith and Nancy Smith Weber, to identify them as scarlet cup mushrooms. To my surprise I found that I had indeed discovered a sign of spring. They usually appear before the trees leaf out and “they may last for several weeks if the weather remains cool.” I’ll be watching for more of them in the next few weeks.