With our mid-April snows, spring seemed to be put on hold. Funny what a difference a week can make. By the beginning of this week, we heard our first frogs, bird sounds were everywhere, trees and shrubs were budding. Here are a few things we found mucking about in the prairie yesterday.
Here is a Purple Coneflower poking through the duff. Chances are this one germinated last year and was covered with snow in this state. Notice the bits of Bluegrass around it that are greening up.
Here is a Monarda plant making its way.
Here's a clump of Little Bluestem we pulled up, only to see that nothing on it is turning green. It's a warm season plant and needs warmer days and nights before it will become active.
The Yellow Coneflower (or Grey-Headed Coneflowers) are just beginning to germinate.
The Red and Silver Maples are budding. This is a Freeman Maple, a cross between a Red and Silver Maple.
Elderberry, which is a native shrub, is budding out. Notice the ice on the pond in the background. By yesterday afternoon, that ice was mostly gone.
Usually the Bur Oak buds are beginning to swell by this time. But this year, there is not much happening with this Bur Oak.