Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Crocus

At my last Chinese brush painting class, I felt inspired by the newly hatched crocuses.



















This calligraphy means "spring" "flower".




















The moment calls for a haiku, I think:

and after such a year
the first crocus
in its usual place

-- Anita Virgil


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Monday, March 16, 2009

Signs of Life

Spring, again. Were it less than twelve months since the last time we saw green shoots pushing up through winter dirt, would we be as delighted? Another instance of the human psyche and the earth's cycles working in perfectly-evolved harmony.

First to bloom, as usual, is the ground ivy, generally considered a weed. For a pest, it's pretty.















Also making an appearance, a few crocuses (croci?). I just learned that saffron is actually crocus pollen. However, apparently it's the pollen of the fall crocus. I think the pollen of spring crocuses may be toxic. I'm not going to test this theory myself, however.















The hollyhock emerges.















Also, some tulips.



















And daffodils, and hiacynth.





























And the sedum. It starts out so sweet-looking! By late summer, it's all bulked up.
















Signs of trouble: all those pods are morning glory seed pods. All those black specks are morning glory seeds.















I'm tempted to bring out the shop vac and deal with them once and for all. Hmmm ...
















photo courtesy of Pacific County Historical Society and Museum

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