Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spring beauty

Wow, I forgot how busy spring is!  It's as if once things start sprouting and growing everything just explodes and suddenly there's just so much to be done!  Gardening projects, cleaning projects, building projects... plus I just want to take pictures of every flower I see, even though I probably already took pictures of them last year or the year before.  Ah, but the light wasn't the same last year, it wasn't in this exact spot last year, I had less experience last year, etc, etc.

Before all of my flower photos get stale I'll have to share them in big bunches, starting with my latest obsession: Spring Beauty.  I'll not attempt to narrow this one down to its Latin name, as I just read that there is a Carolina Spring Beauty and a Virginia Spring Beauty, and I have no way to tell which one might be growing around here (the photos I saw of each species looked identical to my untrained eyes).



These truly are some very charming flowers, and it seems like they are blooming everywhere! I see them in lawns all over the place, and I certainly can't take a walk in the woods without running into them.  Sunny spots, shady spots - they seem to be happy just about anywhere.


They are so photogenic that I can't help but take photo after photo of them.


They are dainty (the flower head is smaller than a penny in most cases), but those pink stripes and bright white petals really pack a punch!


Here is a large clump of Spring Beauty growing amongst violets and other small spring wildflowers.


Don't they make you smile?


I'll try to share photos of other itty-bitty flowers with you soon!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very charming flowers indeed! I see you're having a beautiful spring. Those flowers in your other blog are breathtaking too - such colors!

Nellie from Beyond My Garden said...

Your spring beauties have so much more color than mine though my photo of one from a rich section of woods does show some pink. Perhaps I was too rash in listing the latin name. I will have to rethink it.

FAB said...

It certainly is a BEAUTY.

Steve Willson said...

These are some great shots. Last night, I had just finished sorting my Spring Beauty photos when I saw your post, so I changed to birds today and held my Spring Beauty post for tomorrow. They certainly are a wonderful little flower.

Heather said...

Aluajala - Yes, spring has been lovely so far this year!

BTG - I've seen them in different stages of color, sometimes with the pink not being so showy. I guess my eye (and my camera) were mostly drawn to the very pink ones, though.

Frank - Yes sir, it is. Do you have any thing like it on your side of the pond?

Steve - How very considerate of you to keep our posts from overlapping! I loved that Tree Swallow post. We've never had anyone take up immediate occupancy in our nest boxes - you're super lucky! Have you ever participated in Cornell's Nest Watch program?

Baby Birder said...

What an appropriate name for such a lovely flower! Great shots!!!

Heather said...

Baby Birder - Thank you. Aren't they great?!

Judy said...

Oh! Oh! Oh! These are such wonderful photos! I have never seen many of them, and had gone about 40 years without seeing any at all, so I was thrilled to find some last week! Your photos are so crisp!!!!

Heather said...

Judy - Thank you! I'm glad you finally got to see some of these lovelies for yourself after such a long absence.