Sunday, April 13, 2014

First Flowers of Spring

It's not just the critters returning and waking that celebrate spring; the flowers are popping up quickly too.  Just a few days after the snow melted on top of them, the tiny dwarf iris (iris reticulata) were in bloom, two days ago.  They have to be my favourite flower, and they are the very first blooms in our own garden in the spring.

This iris only stands about 6" tall, and ours is planted in the scree garden.  These are the green stems I posted coming up through the gravel a few days ago - my suspicions were right, they were the iris.

It's the brilliant yellow and white pattern in the royal blue flowers, taken from above, that fascinates me.

In the veggie garden, literally under the blanket of snow, ready to show up as soon as the snow evaporated, is my rhubarb.  Not everyone likes rhubarb, but I love it, and have several large healthy plants.

They first emerge with a thin light brown 'skin' covering and protecting the leaves.  This leaf, 2" across, is all ready to unfurl, when it will probably grow to nearly 2 feet across (if I don't pick it first).

And the first flower in the woods and swamps around here is the skunk cabbage, here poking its mottled red protective sheath out of the water.  The flower is out of sight down inside, and the green spikes are emerging leaves.

Skunk cabbage grows to this stage under the snow in the spring, and is revealed as the snow melts.

Tomorrow, back to Wodehouse Creek and the ephemeral waterfall.  I did get down to see it this weekend, and have some pictures.  Amazing, and quite a hair-raising expedition to get there!

These flowers are nowhere near the flowers usually posted on 'Today's Flowers', but because they're the very first flowers of spring here, I hope the qualify, so I'm linking to:

http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.ca/

11 comments:

  1. I have never seen Skunk Cabbage....very cool!
    Your Iris are beautiful....I only have the tall bearded variety....
    Your rhubarb brings back childhood memories...almost a forgotten food item....
    I have a Dead Mans Parasol at the cottage...of the Rhubarb family...HUGE leaves!
    Lovely post, Furry....
    Enjoy your week...
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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  2. Super Iris, and down here, like Linda, we have what is called Chilean Rhubarb, or Giant Gunnera, an invasive pest, if not contained in your own garden. Huge leaves here too. Have a great week, and I'm waiting for more exciting photos. Cheers, Jean.

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  3. I saw flowers doing that here a day or two ago... the first of the season.

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  4. We went from cold to hot... where is our spring weather?

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  5. Those Irises are my favorite - just love that color!

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  6. Those iris are beautiful! I've never seen skunk cabbage before but it is interesting. Our rhubarb is still buried but one end of the bed is slowly receding.

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  7. Spring is COMING to you!!!! Yeah! Love the tiny Irises... Our first flower of spring is the Crocus... Love it.

    I love Rhubarb... My mother used to make the best Rhubarb Pies in the world... Yum
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  8. It is so nice to see all the things ready to shoot up and bloom again. Survived the cold winter and now refreshing itself to a new life again.

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  9. Boy, am I glad to see that you have stuff rising up. From your photos this winter, I wasn't sure you would ever be free of snow. You know, I was on the hunt for skunk cabbage this morning but it wasn't where I usually find it. I have to check again later this week. I think it's a cool plant.

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  10. I love these flowers. Used to have quite a few mini iris in my rock garden, but it's pretty much lost to the moles now. And skunk cabbage is always great. Haven't checked my rhubarb yet. Only thing up are some daffodil leaves

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