After the cold snap and a little rain, yesterday’s temperature on the porch reached 70°, and it is expected to be warmer today. Yesterday, we had to knock off early and just sit out there and revel in the sights and sounds. Some of the sarvis (serviceberry, juneberry) in sunny locations is already in flower. With the warmer temperatures, I expect most of it to be in bloom by the end of the week. (Of course, the forsythia, Bartlett pears, and some of the other aliens have been in bloom for a while.) We happened to be close to one of our favorite wildflower sites yesterday afternoon, so we stopped by for a look. There were some green things poking out of the ground, and a few trillium leaves, probably sweet betsy. The only thing in flower was probably wood anemone, but my wildflower identifications can be suspect, especially in the early stages of growth. Again, with the warmer temperatures, I expect to see more activity by the weekend.
I can report that the ramp bulbs that we planted about three weeks ago have already started to come up in leaf. I expected that they would, but I’m surprised that they have emerged so soon.
The next big event in town is the 17th Annual Blue Ridge Adventure Race, April 12. There will be a “real deal” race with navigation, and a “Sport” race without navigation. Also, there will be a “kids and parents” race at Mercier’s on Sunday.
See the column below for a few things that are happening this coming weekend.
In terms of wild excitement, I have a new field guide that I like, Native Trees of the Southeast: An Identification Guide, by Kirkman, Brown, and Leopold. If I’ve learned one thing about field guides in the past few years, it is that they’re a whole lot better today than they were when I was a kid. I’m sure that has a lot to do with digital photography, but I think it also has to do with people getting grants to help with production costs. Anyway, this is a good one. It has both winter and summer keys, and includes a section on non-native and invasive species.