Sanapshot, Week 16: 4/19 - 4/25 Warm Smells.(Recycle)

Thursday, April 23, Mammatus clouds ushered in our first 90 degree Spring day, the hottest on record for the date.




These daisy fleabain (?) are part of a patch, but you can often see the individual stems standing alone. From a distance, I thought these were kind of a white ragwort... they have a similar profile and belong to the same family. Of curiosity, in the late summer and fall, there are any number of plants that put out a similar flower but are much bussier in the stem. I will have to see if they are the same thing gone wild, or just cousins.

All our other maples (Silver tips, Mountain, Red etc) went to seed a good month or two ago, but Sugar Maples break the mold by going to see well after they have broken into leaf.

Crimson Clover at their apex, even as the White Oak behind is in full floral flourish (though perhaps not thought of in that way.) Some of the Crimmsons are beginning to shed the red and stretch into elongated brush heads.

I have yet to learn the name of these things, though I call them "Jetson grass" as they remind me of something one would see on the Jetson's cartoon. Their floral outcrop appears to climb upward from the base to tip even as the cone enlarges.

From a distance, the bloom of the black Locust looks like a wild cherry bloom on steroids. Up close they look rather like Wisteria -- and they must be the most fragrant flower in Arkansas, smellable from blocks away.

Purple Mailbox flowers. Something like Climaxia. They show up every year at this time, though some folks cheat and use plastic.

(2009 Recycle)

Not sure if they miniature wild roses are of the same species posted a couple or weeks back, but they are major part of our highway landscape, and will in time, give way to dense brier patch.

Other things observed:

1. lots of buttercups.
2. white clover
3. yellow clover
4. The final final trees (members of the Hemlock family) join the green revolution.
5. Skies move from chilly blue to hot blue.
6. The air is thick in pollen, dusting cars.
7. Lots of little roses, including some attached to bushes.
8. Irises in full force.
9. Movement toward the "Monogreen" but still with lots of gold green, limon, and kelly in the mix.
10. Lyre Leaf Sage, visible from road
11. Evening Primrose in fresh start flourish
12. First hint of Queen Anne's Lace
13. Spotting of a single Honey Suckle bloom
14. Crimson, red, yellow, and white clover all going strong. (I will have to take a picture of the red to distinguish it from the Crimson)

White Oak

Place holder

White Oak (maybe)

White Oak/ Black jack oak hybrid?

White Oak/Red Oak, Black Oak, Blackjack oak hybrid?

One of the real challenges for those who identify oak varieties is this: Many varieties of oak hybridize with one another (or are simply too closely related --- and share common family attributes) A guide I have used to identify Oaks, shows the highly lobed variety found at top as a "white oak" though it differs considerably from the narrow lesser lobed variety showcased in the White Oak entry above. The third and fourth photos have attributes I identify with white oak --and other oaks. I simply lack the expertise to break these down any further.

Sanapshot, Week 15 4/12-4/18

Calico green

Final tree mix, heavy in white oak, goes green.

False Dandelion (Cat's ear) - grows like it was planted in a vase.


Ragwort "Stick Weeds"

Supise "Albino" white bloom among the Crimson tide.

Crimson Clover/ White Oak. The Crimson clover are off the charts the year, and are the number one search item that are bringing folks to this blog. Tag: Red flower along highways.



This week was a lot like last week only more so. A little warmer, though not much. Cold nights, gorgeous days, with Thomas Kincaid landscapes replete Dogwoods amidst azaleas. (The dogs are greening but still go strong, and I believe the Pink Dogs follow slightly on the heals of the more prodigious white.) The woods are fully calico, with White Oak, Pin Oak, Walnut (or Pecan), and Sycamore serving as caboose on the green machine.



My big find this week is the White Oak. May sound strange in that I have been taking pictures of growing things for years; however this is my first year to be deeply aware of the White Oak as distinct from all other Oaks. And now that I have realised that distinction, I wonder how I ever lacked clarity before. (I plan a larger post this week given to the White Oaks). So stay tuned.

Quick notes/things observed:

1. The "Dogs" go green
2. Multihued Azalea patches, some going sour, and some going bold.
3. White mini-daisies on a stick., appear to follow ragwort by about a week.
4. White "snow" bushes. (I took some pics then erased them for the file space.)
5. Lots of mini-rose things.
6. A suggestion of Primrose.
7. A deep thickening of buttercup fields.
8. Several varieties of smell good trees and shrubs.
9. The Seeding (finally) of the Sugar maples.

Snapshot Week 3: 1/18/2009 - 1/24/09

White Oak sunrise:

Major Theme: Strobing skies. Last week was given to temperatures ranging from bitter to the 60's. If you still see leaves on a tree, it is most likely a White Oak (or a member of the White Oak family) And if not that, It's probably a Pin Oak.

Massive Southern Red Oaks and Willow Oaks have been leafless for a month.

Pin Oak, still dressed as if for fall.