Cherry (Guest Contribution): Emily Boyd-Flora

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Today's images of the Cherry come courtesy of floral photographer Emily Boyd-Flora, taken mid March in Springdale Arkansas. What strikes me about these images is the similarity of these blossoms to those of the Bradford Pear( bottom). Indeed, many of our editable tree fruits (apple, pear, cherry, peach produce a similar five petaled bloom. Of course, what makes the cherry bloom so special - wedding white. (that against piercing blues skies is a thing to behold.) The Brad, by contrast comes in heavy cream.


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Bradford Pear (Similitude)

Yellow Jessamine

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Gelsemiaceae
Genus: Gelsemium
Species: G. sempervirens

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Jessamine

The Yellow Jessamine, looks from a distance like forsythia on steroids. By the end of March (central Arkansas) this flowering vine is on display everywhere: Mailboxes, telephone poles, gates, trellises, and homes. It appears to share common characteristics with the trumpet vine and appears to be called Yellow trumpet - or Evening Trumpet -on occasion. (A quick survey of the net shows several flowers under the Yellow-Trumpet name.) As is, the Yellow Jessamine is the State flower of South Carolina. According to Wikipedia, the flower is toxic, and NOT something to suck like honeysuckle.

Snapshot week 11: 3/15 - 3/21 New Green

Bradford Pears go green, petals roll down the street.

Lawns are rather bumpity with all kinds of fresh weed growth, onion grass, and nettle. (More next week)

Redbud, harmonize with new green and the copper green of new Oak (catkin) growth.

Garden Peach tree

New Sweetgum leaves and seedball clusters, with a couple of seed balls left from last year. (Note: the new seed balls will eventually drop and then hang below the branch as the balls gain mass.

Work kept me hopping this last week so new photo content is at a premium, but this last week was dominated by the cast of Redbud on the newly emerging oaks, and the proliferation of the Maple seedlings (Red, Mountain, Silvertip). Other standouts: new Sweetgum seed/leaf, the last of the peach, bold white cherry, and assorted other fruit tree blooms of uncertain identity.)

Maple "Helicopter seeds" belonging to an unknown variety. (Probably Mountain Maple)

Snapshot Week 8: 2/22 -2/28 Maple Force

file: Johnquils



Red-Maple flowerette





File: Japanese Magnolia

Japanese Magnolia of the stubby branch, second variety





file: Wild Pear (Bradford?)




Snapshot:

1)The lacy smaller Jonquil made a showing, while the the larger big daffodils are poking up.


2)The Silver Tip and Mountain Maples continue in full flower, though I have yet to see a whisper from the larger Sugar Maples.


3/4) Japanese Magnolia varieties 1 and 2 in full force at the Arkansas State Capitol. Variety 2 is a little later blooming with shorter pedals, found on short stubby branches.


5) Tuesday/Wednesday 24/25 - I noticed the first wild Pear in bloom (these may be Bradfords, but they are less shaped than the store bought variety. Thursday morning (2/26) Brads started opening in Little Rock. The trees started blooming in mass between 10 Am and 2PM. Really. Followed by a similar cycle a day later in Conway. (The quick flash bloom seems to have slowed given colder temps into the weekend.

Other activity:

Yellow forsythia (sp)
Pink Japonica

Snapshot Week 7: Feb 15-21

Maple florettes


Wooden "blooms" of the Tulip Poplar



Japanese Magnolia


I expect these next weeks (since I am posting this late and already know the future;) will be filled with the stuff of Maples and Japanese Magnolias. Drive down any Arkansas Highway, and you are likely to see a red mist scattered trough the woods. These would be the petal-less blooms of Maples. Beyond that, the Capitol is flashing her yearly big pink. Maybe this year we will make it though the blooming season without attendant snow or ice.

Snapshot Week 6: 2/8-2/14 First Spring

Japanese Magnolia. 2/12 -2/13. They were not open the morn of the 13th but were by 11AM that same day.

Henbit 2/13

White Clover 2/13

Bradford Pear 2/13

I'm afraid I may not be able to keep track this next week. The place looks like it is about to explode.

Snapshot week 5: 2/1 - 2/7 First Spring

Following a week of ice, the first week of February was marked by undulating temperatures, reaching into the 60's

Snapshot Week 4: 1/25 -1/31

I'm a little late posting, but in the last week of January, northern Arkansas got cobbered by one of our works ice-storms in recorded history. Other links to other's work forthcoming.

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.

Snapshot Week 2: 1/11/09 - 1/17/09

Before

After

I have a hard time believing that we ever had this kind of color in January to begin with, however, this last week temps dipped from the 60s to the teens. Much of the country is in a cold snap, and not even the Pansies can take it. (I can tell you this much Pansies sure aren't pansies when it comes to braving the cold!)

Sanpshot 1/1/09 - 1/10/09 (Week1*)

I've called this a week, but I am throwing in a few extra days to make the calendar week start from here on out on Sunday.

Mostly overcast, with a startle-blue day or two.

Temps hovering just under freezing to 60f.

Two days of ice on branches, following freezing rain (Little Rock) Jan 5/6

White Oak, remain brown, with a healthy body of leaves still on the trees.

Japanesee Magnolia buds build silently. (they seem to be to big to call "buds"

Mountain Maple pre-floral buds swell not long after leaf launch.

Ps. Look for weekly sanpshots as a new feature.

Winter Break

Between Christmas travel and winter months, it may some months till you see anything new here. Untill then, I will work to clean up the place and add detail to those posts that lack information.