The Daily Bucket is a place where we post and exchange our observations about what is happening in the natural world in our neighborhood. Bugs, buds, birds - each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
March 12, 2012.
It's springtime in Tallahassee; well, it's been spring for over a month now. Here's some pictures from the last month at my place just west of town. It's 5 acres, heavily wooded, and changes in elevation from 220' above sea level to 180' in the bottom bit of wetland. As such, that means a good variety of native plants.
Let's start with a common violet, oh so pretty with morning dew.
According to this, the Wunderlin online reference at Univ of South Florida, the scientific name is Viola sororia. I'm still learning these names and have a long long ways to go.
This is Yellow or Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) one of the first spring bloomers.
And fully opened.
We call this Horse Sugar (Symplocos tinctoria) because of the faint sugar taste along leaf spine. This grows 2/3 of the way down the hill in a narrow band just before the wettest part.
Wild Olive (Osmanthus americanus) This is down in the bottom. Big tree that leans over to ground so I can take easy pictures.
Twayblade (Listera australis) another wetland plant. It's only 3 inches high and the 2 blades look similar to partridge berry.
My favorite - a wild azalea (Rhododendron canescens). It also has a few common names - guess it depends where you live. It's done blooming already this year.
Here's someting that will bloom later on - pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). I only let a couple of these grow as specimen plants otherwise they will be everywhere. Persistent tubers and tough to kill once it starts.
Well this is just a few of the plants growing thru my bit of woods. There are others already bloomed like redbud and plum, and soon there will be dogwood and tulip poplar. Today in Tallahassee is overcast, a few sprinkles, a chance of rain maybe, and temps in the mid-70s. Forecast calls for low-80s rest of week and mid-50s at night. So what's going on in your neck of the woods?