Not much to see, wet scrawny plants

[kgd]

Ugh, every night this week it has been just above freezing. Yesterday was the only day that the sun peaked out and I was stuck inside a windowless room grilling some poor PhD candidate on their oral comprehensives exam.

So today, with work being off I went to check out my prairie and see how its doing. Sadly, not much further off than 2-weeks ago. We do have the red-winged blackbirds showing themselves now but the greenery is still really slow to come out. I will check out the forest tomorrow to see how the trout lilies and trilliums are doing, but this is not the right area for those plants here.

Wet...wet...wet...

Some pussy willow buds starting to leaf up.

Bullthistle, last years plant. The overcast, drizzle sky does give some wonderful green hues to the little bit of greenery that is up and around!

Strawberry

Iris poking up (toxic)

Ferns, these one (from bad experience) are not fiddleheads. Note the lack of a groove in the inside part of the main stalk. The ostrich fern will have a groove in the stock kind of like a celery stick.

Some yarrow making its presence - good for cuts, causes vasocontraction of blood vessels and also has antiseptic properties. Can also be drunk as a tea and is used for bladder infections.

Toting around my B. Andrews. In my review I didn't get any shots off of the sheath. Here it is.

Some kid's shelter. Kind of cool, but stuck right along side the main path so I'm pretty sure the park will dismantle it pretty soon.

Thats about it for today.

 

[TheGame]

Looks about as wet as it is around me. Walk anywhere and you will see water on the ground, and we are expecting more. At least you have some green still though. I have yet to see any green coming out yet. Hasn't been the best of weather for it, I guess.

 

[The Warrior]

Nice shots kgd. Won't stop raining here.

 

[6shooter]

Nice detailed pics. Nifty looking shelter too. Does it usually take this long for the colours to start coming in your area? Or is spring coming late this year?

 

[Mack]

I'm glad someone else is getting the rain that we are. This has been a really wet year even for Oregon standards. When the rain stops I'm betting it will be beautiful.
I really like the B.Andrews blade. I'm becoming a huge fan of that blade shape.

 

[tonym]

Hope it warms up there soon Ken. I love your flower pics and am anxiously waiting for them.

 

[Mistwalker]

Some nice shots Ken! Seems odd that the canopy hasn't even started to fill in up there yet. Isn't Yarrow one of the plants that is good for making soap?

 

[Rupestris]

Great shots as usual K. I went out behind the office today during a lull in the rain. The Trout Lilly's are up and doing well here. No Trillium or May Apple cropping up yet. No 'shrooms either despite the wet soil and lack of sun.

Seems odd that the canopy hasn't even started to fill in up there yet.

I'm just a few miles from Ken as the crow flies. It is odd but we've had a rather brutal spring. Lows have been around freezing for the past few weeks and we've had one day above normal high temps this spring. Aside from that day March and April have been about 15°F below normal on average. I don't know about Ken but its killing me.

Any other year I'd have been fishing by now. The Michigan fishing license expires on April 1 and I usually get a couple days in before renewing. Not this year. There was still shelf ice at the lake three weeks ago because of a cold snap.

High today was a balmy 43°F with temps dipping back into the 30's again tonight.

 

[kgd]

Some more shots in the forest proper. Here things are looking a bit more promising.

Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot)

Trout lilies

Trillium

Mayapple

Decided to chew on a large thistle, like Scab demonstrated in his videos, peel and eat the midrib. Not bad!

This is the pond I usually take beta for a swim....Very swollen

These cattails are usually at the edge of the pond

What normally is an ankle deep drainage ditch

Became a lappool for beta, she enjoyed a 3 min workout of swimming in the exact same place

Thats all for today. I was a bit bummed that I couldn't cross that drainage ditch because there is more forest to explore on the other side. Oh well, I suspect the suckers will be making their way up this tributary without problem this year!

 

[PropThePolecat]

Wet is good for testing gear and clothing. If it works then, itll work when you need it. Preferably cold too. Spring is coming. Keep the faith