Almost Wordless Wednesday: The First Week of Spring

Floral Signs

Not only is every flowering tree in bloom or dropping its petals, but other flowers are showing their faces. This is one I saw near my mailbox.

First California Poppy I Saw this Spring, © B. Radisavljevic

For some reason, I treasure this gazania which sprouted in what's left of my lawn. I won't let the gardener touch it when he mows. I hope it spreads.

Volunteer Gazania in my Lawn, © B. Radisavljevic

A New Crop of Weeds Mingles with Flowers

This iris flower has faded, but its neighbor irises are all budding, so I expect more soon. How fast this flower disappeared, and how quickly new buds appeared. I took this photo five days ago. Today the gardener whacked the tops off these grassy weeds that surround this iris bed. If you look very carefully, you can see the new buds. They are bigger today. 

Early Iris Surrounded by Weedy Grasses, © B. Radisavljevic

The Bees Are Busy, Grateful for the Holly Flowers

Do you see them at work?

Bees in the Holly Flowers, © B. Radisavljevic

You might also enjoy Insects Love Spring Wildflowers

Recap of 2016's Most Popular Posts Month by Month

These Are the Most Popular Posts of 2016

2016 has whizzed by. Because I started new blogs, I drastically cut the number of posts on this one. I was hoping that would allow me to provide more than just a photo and a few words in each post.

Since this is the day we are officially observing New Year's Day, I'm choosing today to recap the most popular posts from this blog during 2016. Most of these have more than one photo, but I only feature one from each here. Please follow the links under each photo to see the complete post with all photos and the words that explain them.

January: Are Those Mushrooms in Your Yard Edible or Poisonous? © B. Radisavljevic 

February: Hellie Blythe and the Pistachio Figures in Cigar Box Vignettes

March 2016:  Insects Love Spring Wildflowers

In April, these posts tied for first place, so I'm including both. Which would you vote for if you were breaking the tie?

April 29, 2016: York Mountain / Epoch Winery Barn Old and New

April 30, 2016: Zenaida Cellars Vineyards on the First Day of Spring

Moving on to May

May 2016: Elusive Sunsets with Clouds and No Rain

June 2016: Deer Again

July 2016: It's Black Widow Breeding Season

August 2016: Search for Big Sandy Wildlife Area through San Miguel's Back Roads

September 2016: Looking Up to Turkey Vultures

October 2016: Abandoned Gardens Are Sad

This next one was actually taken on October 30, but I'm counting it as November since it was more popular than the November winner and it's close enough.

November 2016: Photos of A Lasagna Sky

December 2016: Lemons in December that Survived Frost

I hope you enjoyed this tour through the most popular posts of 2016. It's always fun for me to look back and see which posts got the most views.

Which post would get your vote as the best for 2016?


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Lupine Finally Blooming

I love lupine. I used to have a lot of it on my Templeton property. The drought killed most of it up on the hill when there was no rain. The seeds I planted in my herb garden rarely grew. It's been years since lupine was there, even though the seeds for it have been in the ground. Today I went home, and although the property, including the herb garden was overrun with weeds, I saw lupine finally blooming again. I love surprises like that. 

Here's a closer look at the photo above.

Lupine supposedly is a perennial plant, though I always considered this form of it annual. I've seen a shrub form in Cambria at Moonstone beach that I'm sure was perennial because it's always there. There are at least 82 species of lupine in California. All species are related to the pea, but the seeds are toxic. The plant's name Lupinus spp. means "wolf" because it was thought that lupine depleted nutrients from the soil. Instead, though, like other legumes, their root nodules add nitrogen to the soil that it needs.

The photo to the right shows a bit more of the overgrown garden on a slope. Behind the lupine, to the left of the title, is an overgrown clump of thyme I need to harvest and dry. It's already blooming, but it's flowers are too tiny to see in this photo. The lupine chose to emerge among the irises that have not  bloomed yet. The large lavender,  oregano, and sage plants are out of sight in this photo.

The lupine plants you see here came from seeds I collected one day from a vacant lot in San Luis Obispo while I was on a walk. The pods were ready to explode, and the timing was perfect. They have bloomed a couple of times before in wet years, and it's a joy to have them back  this year.

Lupine and other wildflowers don't have a long blooming season. Wouldn't it be nice to enjoy seeing them in your home all year round? Why not pick and press some while they are in bloom? Here are some how-to and craft idea books, and even a microwave flower press you can browse through at Amazon if you like to do things yourself. If you don't have time to make  something lovely with wildflowers yourself, why not buy some of this lupine wall art for one of your walls? Here are some beauties from Zazzle.

 Lupine and California poppies Canvas Print USA, California. Lupine Bloom Close Up Wood Wall Decor USA, Washington State. Alpine Lupine Canvas Print Purple Lupine Flowers Wall Graphics USA, Oregon, Nesika Beach. Lupine and Oregon Wood Wall Art

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Insects Love Spring Wildflowers

Looking for wildflowers? So was I today. I searched along a trail I enter from the north end of Oxen Road in Paso Robles. I found many wildflowers along this trail last year. After all the rain, the wild grassy weeds were so tall they almost covered the few flowers that have appeared, but the insects were finding them. I could hear the buzzing. Insects love spring wildflowers.

The photo on the right
shows most of the wildflowers that were growing along the path I took. You can see the purple vetch, the yellow fiddlenecks, and the red clover. I hadn't realized until I looked them up that the fiddlenecks are related to borage. 

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 Borage-and-Calendula, Beautiful Borage Greeting Card




This greeting card from my herbal collection shows the blue borage growing in a flowerbed next to the orange calendula.

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The first insect I saw on my walk was this ladybug in the vetch and grasses. 

Here is a closer look at the vetch in the midst of the wild barley (foxtails.)

As I walked I could hear a lot of buzzing. Unfortunately my camera is broken and the zoom doesn't extend anymore, or if it does, I have to turn off the camera to retract it. That's why I could catch only this honey bee in the lupine or clover. It's hard to tell which she is after. There were also plenty of bumblebees foraging, but I'm not brave enough to try to get a macro shot of one. They were not close to me anyway, and they were very fast. They would not pose like the ladybug did.

Below is some of the fiddlehead in a collage.

 National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region
The Audubon Field Guide to North American Wildflowers is one of my most useful books in identifying wildflowers, and I have several. Sometimes you can't find every flower in one book. I like the way this book is arranged by the color of the flowers. I especially like its color plates. It's easy to find what I need quickly. 

The Peterson Field Guide to Pacific States Wildflowers is best known for the drawings of the flowers and their parts. Unlike the Audubon guide it does not have the actual photographs. Most authorities recommend using them together since the Peterson guides have more actual information, and the drawings are very detailed whereas the Audubon guides have the colored photo plates. You can find a wider selection of field guides, including those for your area on this Amazon field guide search page. 

The other two books are just for fun. How to Be a Wildflower is more of a journal related to wildflowers. The coloring book is an educational 64-page book of wildflowers to color from a model sticker, It is suitable for anyone over eight years old. 

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 A Field Guide to Pacific States Wildflowers: Field Marks of Species Found in Washington, Oregon, California, and Adjacent Areas : A Visual Approach ... Detail (The Peterson Field Guide Series ; 22) How to Be a Wildflower: A Field Guide Peterson Field Guide Coloring Books: Wildflowers (Peterson Field Guide Color-In Books)

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Where Have All the Real Flowers Gone? Not to Graveyards Anymore

Willow Creek Mennonite Cemetery, © B. Radisavljevic

When I was a child there were certain holidays when my family would visit the cemetery with flowers for all our family members who rested there. They were real flowers, most from our gardens. I remember the search for the containers by the graves and putting water in them with the flowers. We lovingly left them to honor our loved ones. During my childhood, I don't think I ever saw an artificial flower on a grave.

In some cemeteries, that's about all I see anymore. I can think of many reasons why. The cemetery pictured above is an old one in rural Paso Robles. I'm guessing that many families have no surviving members in the area. I don't think I saw one real bouquet on a grave. I can't help but wonder who leaves the artificial flowers. It is those who leave the area after burying a family member they don't expect to visit again? Does the church associated with the cemetery take care of it? The church is no longer in that location. It is evident someone cares for the graves to keep them free of weeds.

Perhaps it just seems more practical these days to leave flowers that won't wilt. But the real flowers are a reminder that we all fade and die.

"As for man, his days are like grass.  He flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him..." Psalm 103: 15-17

Do you still see real flowers on graves? Why do you think artificial flowers seem to be replacing them in many cemeteries? Is it only in the West where a flower planted on a gravesite would not get water? Some cemeteries no longer allow people to plant flowers beside graves, and, sadly, potted plants are often stolen.

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