spathe

i photographed the front of these sunny daffodils. and it was okay. but it was that spathes on the backside that captured my attention most. yup, i said spathe. the papery bract that covered the ovary bud. your new word for today. now go play wordle.

daffodils (Narcissus)

potential energy

the amount of potential energy in these young ferns exhilarates me. i wish i could bottle it. and sell it as a vitality supplement. just looking at this photo makes me feel more energetic.

interrupted ferns unfurling (Claytosmunda)

the king of catkins

because our spring arrived almost two weeks late this year, the usual sequence of spring awakening is all happening at one time. typically, catkin season precedes the fiddleheads which precedes the blooming of the  woodland spring ephemerals. but not this year. it is an explosion of generative activity right now. these cottonwood catkins were half this size only yesterday. in a day or two those buds will burst and white cottonwood fluff will fill the air and make it look like snow in may. which will cause a few people to shudder, considering how we were still having real snow only a few weeks ago.

cottonwood catkins

harbingers

the flag of spring unfurling.

fiddlehead ostrich ferns

fiddle de dee

two days ago the fiddleheads had barely broken ground due to our late spring. today they are already 9 inches high. i so wish i could be warning you about all the fiddlehead photos you will be seeing here for the rest of this week…but at this rate, i will be lucky if i get two more days. oh me. oh my! where has all the time gone? i feel like i am living in alice in wonderland. spring happens so dizzyingly fast here in the north.

interrupted fern frond unfurling