Yes, I am aware that the calendar says it is still winter, but in Louisiana, spring starts in early March. We have so many things blooming right now (and pollen covering everything that stays still!) that there is no way you can say this is winter.
I am posting some pictures of a few things, but hope to get down into the woods next week and take a few more pictures after this rainy spell. I am not fussing about the rain... we greatly need it!
Irises in the front yard are really beautiful right now. The white ones are in full bloom and the purple ones should be opening up soon.
I probably have waited too late to get pictures of the yellow jasmine growing in the woods... it has the most WONDERFUL smell and provides color all through the woods. I finally talked DH into transplanting one to the house to trail on the front fence.
The flowering quince has just about finished blooming. It is one of the earliest things to bloom here, and usually starts opening in January! The bright scarlet flowers show up well because most other shrubs are bare stems at the time the quince is blooming.
Although this is not a very good picture (the sun was hiding as I was trying to snap these.) I hope you can tell what they are.
The tree on the left is a red bud. (Now WHY are they called RED buds when the flowers are PURPLE?) They are in full bloom right now. They seem to be EVERYWHERE! We have lots down in our woods... they add a bright, cheerful color to the normal woodsy view this time of year.
The tree on the right is a sassafrass. They have these beautiful popcorn-looking buds plus the leaves turn wonderful shades of gold, orange, and red in the fall. These also grow everywhere here. They are also very useful trees! The dried leaves can be ground to make gumbo file' (a seasoning) and the roots can be boiled to make sassafrass tea, which tastes somewhat similar to root beer.
Our cat Teddy (short for "Teddy Bear", I'm sure she will have an identity crisis someday because she is named after another species) stands guard over the garden. She is one of our 3 outside cats.
The others are Stinkerbell (DH has such a creative mind when it comes to naming critters! Stinker is a black/yellow/white calico) and Zoe (can you tell that I named her? Zoe is a long-hair black and white cat.)
I wonder what Teddy is watching?
She is watching David planting things! That's right... in Louisiana our gardens can go in very early! Here he is watering the tomato and pepper plants he has just put in the ground.
Other things he has planted: radishes, beets, potatoes, rape, collards, and kale.
Things to plant next week: asparagus and hops (for a friend that brews his own beer).
Things to be planted in the next few weeks:
corn, purple hull peas, butterbeans, rattlesnake beans (snapbeans), zucchini, cucumbers, crook-neck squash, okra, cantaloupes, 3 varieties of watermelons.
This is all in addition to the blueberry bushes and the satsuma tree that are already planted.
So as you can see "spring has sprung" here. I love this time of year!
So go enjoy nature where YOU live today! Every season offers a wonderful view of God's creation. We just need to slow down and look for it on a regular basis!
Kat
