Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
How is a Maple Tree Like a British Soldier?
British Soldier Lichen, that is. Give up?
They both wear red hats in the spring.
I thought I had no wildflowers at all to show for Week 8 of Wildflowers in Winter, but how about if we broaden the definition a bit? This maple tree is 1) wild, and 2) flowering. So it's a wildflower.
Calling the British Soldier Lichen a wildflower is more of a stretch, but I think the bright red fruiting body is pretty. Just about a year ago - the first time I saw it - it took me by surprise, but now I know where and when to look for it. This one is growing next to the frog stream and I found it while looking for the source of the very loud frog songs. I never did find a frog, despite hearing them very close by.
Or could we count dandelions as wildflowers? I found the first one of the season yesterday.
Thanks to Elizabeth Joy of Wildflower Morning for this pleasant diversion from winter.
But stop by here in a few weeks and I should have some more-traditional wildflowers to show. I just saw an entire hillside covered with bluets this afternoon. Well, I think they were bluets - it was hard to tell at 65 MPH. I pointed them out to the spouse, but he didn't volunteer to stop.
Labels: lichens, maples, weeds, wildflowers
6 Comments:
The stretched definition is fine with me. I like your red maple flowers. Thank you for joining us.
Those lichen really are red, Entangled. I've never seen anything like them.
Have you noticed the puns running rampant through the garden blogs? It must be a sign of spring!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Elizabeth Joy: Thanks for the inspiration! I enjoyed participating.
Annie: I'll try to find a larger patch of the lichen to photograph. It's a very surprising color for early spring.
Maybe garden bloggers' brains are slowly thawing out?
Don't know if you saw it, but Ki left a comment yesterday, on my earlier squirrel post, describing his squirrel-dining experience.
You were Right! The unidentified plant on my posting is a relative to your Buckeye. I'm sure it must be the Ohio Buckeye, since that's the tree we have here. Thanks! ;-)
Just seeing those photos of maple flowers makes me want to sneeze!
Shady Gardener: Glad to help! I posted a picture of the emerging bottlebrush buckeye foliage a couple of years ago - it's very similar to your buckeye. I'm adding a red buckeye this year (today actually) for the hummingbirds.
MMD: I know what you mean. We live on antihistimines during the spring :-( No problems yet this year though.
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